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← Return to The Patient Portal—Help or Hindrance?
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The Patient Portal—Help or Hindrance?
Just Want to Talk | Last Active: Feb 17 12:10am | Replies (227)Comment receiving replies
Hello, @vic83 I am what is called a PACS Administrator. I build and maintain the computers that hold and distribute radiology exam images. Every hospital has a network of computers that store your exam images. Just like your home computer holds files of your family photos but with a little more finesse.
We use 3rd party companies that set up connections to many hospitals. We than “push” (officially called a DICOM data transfer) images and bounce them around till they get to where they need to be. Keep in mind this bounce only takes a few min. It however is only images, no radiologist reports. I would also strongly recommend asking for a disk of your images. Nothing is more dependable at delivery than you. But pushing them works really well.
Replies to "Hello, @vic83 I am what is called a PACS Administrator. I build and maintain the computers..."
Why can't I, as a patient, have access to this great technology, this PACS system so that I can manage my own images?
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Thanks for the background! That is interesting to know! I wondered how they could "fax" such a thing. When I asked my first doctor to send my scans to Mayo Clinic, she mentioned "push" and others mentioned there was a fax number.
I will keep in mind your suggestion to get CD. So far, no problem to have larger clinics push to Mayo. How do these radiology images work with EPIC?
Wondering how long are these images kept on file in one institution? I ask because I have had issues in the past getting x-rays/scans from previous providers when living in another state. It would be nice to have them automatically follow the patient no matter where the patient goes. Like one central database where all clinical information on the patient is stored, easily available when needed. I hate filling out new form when I go to a new doctor.