Design considerations for advanced, clinically integrated, radiologist digital dictation system

Abstract

Radiologists require efficient access to clinical information in order to increase the clinical accuracy of their interpretations. Any system developed to access clinical information must do so efficiently while dozens of examinations await interpretation. radStation is a clinical display/report dictation system that has been designed not only to provide an effective interface to unrelated legacy databases but also to effectively integrate into the existing dictation workflow of radiologists. The three-tiered system architecture provides for efficient access to existing legacy databases and allows for future expansion with additional middle-tier (business rules) servers that are able to maintain robust interfaces to legacy databases (the database tier). However, the system architecture is of little concern to a practicing radiologist when experiencing robust system response. The system requires almost no training to master and is well-accepted by a very busy oncological radiology specialty practice.