The rapid and dramatic shifts within the US healthcare industry have created unprecedented needs to implement changes in the delivery systems. These changes must not only address the access to healthcare, but the costs of delivery, and outcomes reporting. The resulting vision to address these needs has been called the Integrated Healthcare Solution whose core is the Electronic Patient Record. The integration of information by itself is not the issue, nor will it address the challenges in front of the healthcare providers. The process and business of healthcare delivery must adopt, apply and expand its use of technology which can assist in re-engineering the tools for healthcare. Imaging is becoming a larger part of the practice of healthcare both as a recorder of health status and as a defensive record for gatekeepers of healthcare. It is thus imperative that imaging specialists adopt technology which competitively integrates them into the process, reduces the risk, and positively effects the outcome.

Date Published: 22 May 1997
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 3035, Medical Imaging 1997: PACS Design and Evaluation: Engineering and Clinical Issues, (22 May 1997); doi: 10.1117/12.274618

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3035:
Medical Imaging 1997: PACS Design and Evaluation: Engineering and Clinical Issues
Steven C. Horii M.D.; G. James Blaine, Editor(s)