Biomedical subjects

B M van Poppel

Publications and source records attributed to B M van Poppel.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1995

Integration is the art of decomposition.

A growing demand for integrating stand-alone information systems with an HIS can be observed. Different forms of integration can be distinguished: technical integration, user interface integration, and integration of the information service. The integration of the information service appears to be especially difficult. An integrated information service can only be achieved when the applications use each other's information services. We will discuss three approaches for letting applications belonging to another system utilize the necessary information service of a host system. The first approach makes use of the user interface, and the necessary information service has to be extracted from the service to a user. Another, often used, approach is the extension of the applications with coupling modules. The coupling modules communicate messages and translate them into the context of the application. The applications are modified scarcely and the coupling modules have to supply the necessary information services. When the coupling problem is more complex (e.g., a larger set of data is to be exchanged interactively), a growing effort will be needed for these adapting modules. A better approach is to split the application into building blocks. Applications are composed of building blocks. The application, which should deliver the integrated information service, is also composed of such building blocks. The building blocks are designed to offer information services that can be used by other systems as well. If we succeed in decomposing the applications into suitable building blocks, an integrated information service could be more easily achieved.

Hospital Information Systems↗

PubMed1992

Overview of CAPACITY data.

This paper presents an overview of the data from 15 cases collected with the CAPACITY software for cost analysis of PACS. The data suggest that both hospital wide and partial PACS implementations do not pay back yet. Only Nuclear Medicine PACS systems may be introduced cost-neutral in the near future. Because of the assumed price drop of hardware components of 5-25% per year, hospital wide and partial PACS may allow cost savings within the next 10-20 years. There are major differences in viewpoints concerning the required PACS configurations and their costs. The experiences with the CAPACITY software suggest the need for the establishment of key rules, for designing a PACS configuration and for estimating PACS costs.

Computer Systems↗

PubMedDate not supplied

An analysis of the costs of a hospital-wide Picture Archiving and Communication System with the software package CAPACITY.

Within the scope of the Dutch PACS project, the costs of a hospital wide PACS in the Utrecht University Hospital were estimated, with the help of the software package CAPACITY. The cost analysis was based on the most recent specifications of the costs of the equipment, on extrapolations, and on the experience acquired with a PACS prototype in the Utrecht University Hospital. Savings due to a possible reduction in the length of stay, or due to logistic improvements were not taken into account. The results indicate that the extra costs of a hospital wide PACS would amount to 3.2% of the total hospital budget. By taking into account the expected price movements, it is predicted that a hospital wide PACS may allow enough savings to pay itself back, when installed near the turn of the century. The result of this cost analysis depends on a large number of assumptions. Therefore two sensitivity analyses are carried out, i.e., concerning the number of workstations required and concerning the organizational impact of PACS.

Computer Systems↗

PubMedDate not supplied

HIS-PACS coupling: BAZIS/ZIS and Philips/MARCOM on speaking terms.

Nowadays a growing number of experts in the PACS field agree on the necessity of having an integrated HIS-PACS combination available in modern hospitals in order to manage the enormous amounts of patient data, both textual, numerical and image information, in an effective way. Since 1986 BAZIS (the Development and Support Group of the Hospital Information System), Philips Medical Systems and the University Hospital of Utrecht (AZU) are partners in the so-called Dutch PACS Project in the development and evaluation of a fully integrated image information system. The first phase of the coupling (sub)project consists of establishing a communication link between the BAZIS/ZIS and the Philips/MARCOM system with the following restrictions: the only data sent concerns the inpatients of one ward; data will only flow one way, from BAZIS/ZIS to Philips/MARCOM. In the second phase two-way communication will be realized and more departments can be part of the experiment. In phase 3 a more general HIS-PACS interface will be developed, independent of the manufacturers of HIS and PACS. In this paper the technical solution chosen for the first phase coupling, the format of the messages being transferred, and the events which result in sending the messages, will be described. Also, reference is made to the demonstration of the working HIS-PACS link, given during the 6th EuroPACS meeting in Utrecht and Leiden on 25-26 April 1988.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A package for cost and critical analysis of picture archiving and communication indicating its true yield (CAPACITY).

The hospital-wide use of picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) promises a number of advantages in the future. These benefits will only be obtained at considerable costs, however. In view of the rapidly developing technology the costs of hardware can be expected to decrease. The ideas about the expected moment when the benefits will exceed the costs show wide variation. In order to get a better view on the cost comparison between PACS and the classical film-based system and also to stimulate discussions on this topic, a software package called CAPACITY (cost and critical analysis of picture archiving and communication indicating its true yield) has been developed by BAZIS within the scope of its IMAGIS (image information system) project. CAPACITY calculates the costs in the year of introduction for both situations, conventional and PACS, based on the consumption or use of the various resources (e.g. film, optical disks, manpower in the archive, operators, network, workstations etc.) needed for the production of the radiological department. These two costs are calculated for a series of years, thus giving an indication for the moment of breakeven. User-supplied data is interrelated and checked for plausibility against a number of expert given rules of thumb by CAPACITY's critique module. The first results and experiences acquired during a pilot study using a prototype version of the package will be discussed. The CAPACITY package is available for evaluation and trial (only distribution costs will be charged if experiences and results are returned).

Computer Simulation↗