Examining the influence of picture archiving communication systems and other factors upon the length of stay for patients with total hip and total knee replacements.

Objectives: To examine the influence of a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) on the length of stay (LOS) for patients receiving total hip replacement (THR) or total knee replacement (TKR) procedures.

Methods: A before-and-after design was used. Data were collected on all THR and TKR procedures at Hammersmith Hospital from 1993-96.

Evaluation of a hospital picture archiving and communication system.

Objectives: To establish the net costs to the hospital and the broad range of benefits associated with a hospital-wide picture archiving and communication system (PACS) that comprised digital acquisition, storage and transmission of radiological images via a hospital-wide network to 150 workstations.

Methods: 'Before and after' comparisons and time series analyses at Hammersmith Hospital (London, UK), and comparison with five other British hospitals where PACS was not being installed. The cost analysis considered implementation costs and changes in key elements of hospital running costs, including the impact of changes in the length of inpatient stays.

Radiology report times: impact of picture archiving and communication systems.

Objective: We investigated the impact on radiologist reporting time of the change from conventional film to hard-copy computerized radiography and of the subsequent move to soft-copy images on picture archiving and communication system (PACS) workstations.

Materials And Methods: A controlled before and after research design was undertaken. Data were collected on four occasions: two relating to conventional film, one relating to hard-copy computerized radiography, and one relating to soft-copy PACS images.

Evaluation of diffuse technologies: the case of digital imaging networks.

There have been significant developments in recent years in the methodologies and methods for the evaluation of a wide range of health technologies. There remain, though, many technologies which are difficult to evaluate. Often the difficulty stems from the complexity of the technologies themselves, which are in effect hybrids, comprising combinations of several distinct elements.

Explaining variation in radiologists' reporting times.

This paper describes an investigation into the reasons for variation in the time taken by senior radiologists to complete radiological reports. An observational study of the reporting process at one UK hospital was undertaken for a 25 day period. An independent health service researcher observed the radiology reporting process and collected data on a variety of factors including the time taken to produce the report, the number and nature of all images viewed, the experience of the radiologist, and the number of disturbances that occurred.