Design Criteria for a Data Base Management System for a PACS at Georgetown University Hospital

In the radiology department, as with other industries, data have been realized as a most valuable commodity. These data, which include radiologic images, the radiology reports, and patient data available for administrative purposes, are utilized by a variety of users such as radiologists, referring physicians, technologists, and department administators. The requests from these users differs greatly with regard to what data they require, how the data will be used, and when it will be needed. A major goal of a radiologic picture archival and communication system (PACS) is to increase the availability of the data to the users who require access to them. This is done by providing the data in a digital form which can be readily communicated and archived (1). In this manner, the PACS can be seen as a specific example of a data base managements system (DBMS).