Findings from evaluations of the benefits of diagnostic imaging systems

Canada Health Infoway and its partners in the provinces and territories have made significant investments in diagnostic imaging (DI) systems across Canada. Infoway's DI Investment Program is to implement storage for diagnostic digital images so that clinicians can view images regardless of where they are stored. Specifically, Infoway is investing in Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS), which are those systems with the modern digital archiving capabilities used by DI systems.eHealth implementations in Canada are responsible for demonstrating the value of eHealth investments to users and stakeholders and driving benefit optimization. Canada has a rich set of results from British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador due to early Infoway investments in DI systems. The positive evaluation results are encouraging but they indicate that continued effort and investment are required to fully realize the benefits. This paper discusses findings from evaluation studies, the pan-Canadian aggregation study, and possibilities for benefit optimization from investments made in the Electronic Health Record (EHR).