Better Management of Data
Digital imaging allows providers to better manage vast volumes of data, at a lower cost, and avoid losing paper files or film.
- In Boston, the Brigham and Women's Hospital clinical information system includes imaging files, patient data, and a variety of other information that reaches almost one billion single-spaced pages each month.1 Despite this, electronic systems allow physicians to obtain the precise imaging information and related data they need quickly, at their own computers.
- Electronic systems eliminate the danger of lost film or paper files. Before the University of California at San Francisco developed its imaging archives system, some 15 to 20 percent of radiographic images were lost and hundreds went unread.2
- Storage of digital images is more cost-effective than film storage. According to one study, digital imaging reduced the average cost of storage by 45 percent, and the estimated 10-year costs of storage dropped by 8 percent.3
- Digital systems offer 24/7 availability of both clinical data and images in one location. ER physicians can now access X-ray information even after the radiologists have gone home for the day. Also, radiologists can review images and offer consultation from any location with access to the Internet.
1 "New System Delivers Critical Information in Real Time, Reduces Medical Errors," Associated Press Business Wire, February 11, 2003.
2 Networking Health: Prescriptions for the Internet, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, 2000, p. 76.
3 "Gastrointestinal Imaging: A Systems Analysis Comparing Digital and Conventional Techniques," S. Chawla, MS Levine, I Laufer, EL Gingold, TJ Kelly, and CP Langlotz, AJR American Journal of Roentgenology, 172: 5, 1279-84, May 1999.
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