Evaluation of PACS at Hammersmith Hospital: assessment of radiology department performance in the intensive care unit

Abstract

The hospital-wide PACS installation at Hammersmith Hospital is the subject of an independent technology evaluation exercise. This paper focuses on one aspect of the evaluation: the assessment of the impact of PACS on the performance of the radiology department in the intensive care unit (ICU). A quasi-experimental before and after research design has been adopted and initial baseline measurements have been undertaken of the time intervals between the various events from the radiograph request to the initiation of a subsequent clinical action. The results presented suggest that the radiology department at Hammersmith is currently performing well with an interval of about 10 minutes from the radiograph being taken to it being available for viewing in the ICU for non-routine radiographs (taken after 11.00 and before 9.00). The main findings from this study to date relate to the appropriateness of the research methods used, given the disappointing response rates for specific variables, and thus the potential for bias in the results obtained.