Development and implementation of the Veterans Administration's multihospital radiology information system

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Health Systems Management

Background:

• The Veterans Administration (VA) is implementing a new automated radiology information system.
• This system is an integral part of the Decentralized Hospital Computer Program.
• The system's design has undergone 5 years of evaluation and refinement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To improve the efficiency of processing, performance, and reporting of radiologic consultations and procedures.
• To provide managers with comprehensive demographic and medical statistics for planning.
• To assess the potential impact of the VA radiology module on healthcare systems.

Main Methods:

• The report describes the development and current status of the VA radiology information system.
• Evaluation and refinement of the basic design over a 5-year period.
• Implementation across 172 VA medical facilities.

Main Results:

• The automated radiology information system is becoming available in all 172 VA medical facilities.
• The system facilitates automatic capturing of demographic and medical statistics.
• The system has the potential to influence future commercial and public healthcare information systems.

Conclusions:

• The VA radiology module represents a significant advancement in radiology information management.
• It serves as a model for radiology components within comprehensive medical information systems.
• The system's data collection capabilities will aid in future resource planning.