Prefetching studies: Concepts

Prefetching is the automatic retrieval of relevant priors based on a visit scheduled event or study scheduled event (studies in the RIS that are scheduled to be performed). Configuring rules for prefetching causes the system to retrieve prior studies to cache before the studies are needed. Prefetching occurs only for relevancy rules defined in the Administration Tools, not those defined in the IMPAX Client - Configure area.

Trigger events

Two types of prefetching are supported in IMPAX. “Regular” relevant prior rule options are triggered when an exam is scheduled at the RIS, based on the Study Scheduled event. Referring location prior rules are triggered when a visit is scheduled at location, based on the Visit Scheduled event. In both cases, the system searches for and prefetches studies that match the defined rules. Both use the relevant prior rules, but the visit scheduled prefetching can override certain settings based on defined referring location rules.

Connectivity Manager support

The system supports prefetching and autofetching without a Connectivity Manager. However, without a Connectivity Manager, the flexibility of what you can fetch is limited. For example, you may only be able to fetch a CT Head study, rather than a study with more specific information filled in by the Connectivity Manager.

HIS verification

Only studies that have successfully HIS verified (or have not undergone HIS verification at all) are prefetched. Studies that have failed HIS verification are not included.

Multiple IMPAX cluster support

You can enable the cluster to prefetch studies from linked clusters. When doing so, the local database is searched first. Any duplicates subsequently found in remote clusters are discarded.