UCSF

This article describes an application for capturing, delivering, and

tracking urgent radiology exam results. Urgent exam findings are entered using

a Web form embedded within the Picture archiving and communication system

(PACS) display station. The findings are then accessible via soft copy using

the PACS display stations, hospital information system (HIS) terminals, or

wireless-enabled personal digital assistants (PDAs) or via hard copy printouts

that are generated automatically or on demand. Additionally, quality control is

performed on those findings entered by radiology residents and fellows, the

results of which are used for both performance tracking and educational

activities. The application was developed using Sun Microsystems' Java

programming language. The Java Message Service (JMS) was used to manage the

delivery of findings. JMS provides a robust, flexible framework for exchanging

messages between disparate applications. The application is now used for all

urgent exams; completely replacing the original paper-based system. The use of

JMS provides the necessary level of reliability needed by this

application.