PubMed · 10490012
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M Gardner. 1999-09-09. A science-oriented search engine could solve web problems.... https://doi.org/10.1038/43541
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This study aims to compare handsearching to a basic MEDLINE search for the identification of reports of randomized trials in specialized health care journals. Twenty-two specialized health care journals, published in the U.K., were handsearched for all reports of controlled trials (as defined by the Cochrane Collaboration). The reports of trials, which were judged to be definitely randomized, were identified from a random sample of three years per journal and form one element of this study. A MEDLINE search using the publication type terms 'randomized controlled trial' and 'controlled clinical trial' was also performed for the same journal years. The reports of trials retrieved by handsearching were then compared against those retrieved from the MEDLINE search, to identify differences in retrieval between the two techniques. Reports of randomized trials identified by the MEDLINE search but not found by handsearching were individually assessed to see if they met the Cochrane eligibility criteria for a report of a randomized trial. A total of 714 reports of randomized trials were found by using a combination of both handsearching and MEDLINE searching. Of these, 369 (52 per cent) were identified only by handsearching and 32 (4 per cent) were identified only by MEDLINE searching. Of the reports identified only by handsearching, 252 had no MEDLINE record, of which 232 (92 per cent) were meeting abstracts or published in supplements; 117 (25 per cent) of the 462 reports of randomized trials which had a MEDLINE record were missed by the electronic search because they did not have either of the publication type terms 'randomized controlled trial' or 'controlled clinical trial'. This proportion varied depending on when the reports of randomized trials were published (that is, before or after the introduction of the MEDLINE publication type terms above). The highest additional yield from handsearching compared to MEDLINE searching was for reports of randomized trials published prior to 1991 and from handsearching the non-MEDLINE indexed parts of a journal. The results of this study suggest that a combination of MEDLINE and handsearching is required to identify adequately reports of randomized trials.
Web-based integration methods can be used to resolve a fundamental issue in the transition from film to a picture archiving and communication system (PACS): the identification of relevant prior studies only available on film. Even in the most ambitious conversions from a film-based environment to PACS, there are issues regarding prior studies not on PACS. Failure to compare with prior exams is one of the known risk factors for malpractice in radiology. While most commercial PACS systems today have some degree of RIS integration, knowledge of prior studies is usually limited to an awareness of studies in the PACS. On the other hand, most RIS systems today do not or cannot distinguish between studies on film and those in PACS. We made the observation, from a set theory perspective, that in general: Therefore we sought to create a system that would query both the RIS and PACS and reconcile the results using the above set operation. The query is initiated from a display station via the invocation of a Web browser installed on that station. The process of starting the browser is implemented using a scripting language provided by the workstation vendor, though the use of other mechanisms, such as the CCOW (Clinical Context Object Workgroup) or IHE (RSNA Integrated Healthcare Enterprise) interfaces, can be supported by this architecture. The medical record number, which identifies the current patient and is the primary parameter of the query, is passed as part of the URL (Universal Resource Locator) used to launch the browser. Once running, the browser connects to a Web server that hosts a JSP (Java Server Page) page that performs a DICOM query of the PACS and an HL7 query of the RIS, and then collates the results using the set operation described above. Both the DICOM and HL7 functionality are provided by Java-based toolkits developed in house. The results are returned to the client's browser as a standard HTML page with a tabular format detailing which studies are on PACS and which are available only on film. The responsiveness of the system in terms of time required to complete the two queries and display the results was measured. In addition, the number of diagnostic reports, whose retrieval was triggered by the results of the queries, was monitored to determine the overall performance and use of the system. This project demonstrates that, with minimal modification of commercial software, Web-based integration methods exist to enable patient-context sensitive queries from the diagnostic workstation that identify relevant prior studies that exist only on film and are unknown to the PACS. As a result radiologist workflow is enhanced by the elimination of the need to consult a physically separate system for this type of information. In addition, quality of service is improved by providing more accurate and easier identification of relevant prior studies.