Christopher Toland, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Christopher D. Meenan MS, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Max Jeffrey Warnock, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Paul G. Nagy PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Research grant, Diana Associates

The goal of all radiology IT support organizations is availability of critical clinical information services such as picture archiving communication system (PACS) and radiology information system ( RIS). IT support personnel often act like firefighters, reacting to one problem, then moving on to the next. Serially reactive support is less than desirable, because it requires users to report issues after problems are experienced. In most cases, such problems have characteristic warning signs. Implementation of a process to monitor the system for such signs (proactive monitoring) gives support organizations the capability to detect and resolve failures in many cases before the user experiences deleterious effects on workflow or productivity.

We have implemented the open-source availability-monitoring package Nagios (Nagios.org) and tailored it to be a comprehensive solution for a heterogeneous environment of vendors and services. The system was customized to monitor specific queue statuses beyond system availability to provide a picture of the overall health of the system. Custom plug-ins for Nagios were created to monitor all facets of our department, from PACS application servers to DICOM gateways to RIS HL7 feeds.

Support staff are now notified immediately when the monitoring tool detects warning signs of possible system failures. This has improved our overall customer satisfaction. Metrics provided by the monitoring package allow us to quantify specific aspects of uptime and reliability.

Our monitoring system proved to be an effective tool to proactively monitor systems for failures. Although some PACS and RIS vendors have independent monitoring packages, we found that the addition of a non-vendor-specific monitoring tool was effective and allowed independent monitoring of multiple vendors through the same interface. A holistic view of departmental applications across all vendors provided an accurate and continuously updated “snapshot” of availability to the department.

Proactive monitoring gives support organizations the capability to detect and resolve failures in many cases before the user experiences deleterious effects on workflow or productivity.

Toland, C, Meenan, C, Warnock, M, Nagy, P, Proactively Monitoring Departmental Clinical IT Systems with an Open-Source Availability System.  Radiological Society of North America 2007 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 25 - November 30, 2007 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2007/5011825.html