Graham Bay MD, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

The application has been well received by residents and staff. Many residents use the application regularly and consider it a valuable and indispensable tool. The ease of use of the software along with the lack of required infrastructure or need for installation allows portability and rapid development to any institution without an existing electronic method for call management.

After-hours radiologic examinations have increased substantially over the past decade, especially computed tomographic (CT) examinations. At our provincial tertiary care centers, radiology residents are responsible for arranging and providing a preliminary interpretation for CT examinations, which range between twenty and eighty studies per shift. Although some centers use web based applications to track studies and create reports, for various reasons this type of solution was not feasible at our institution.

A local client software application was designed using Microsoft Visual C# .NET 4.0. The application can be executed from a USB storage device without installation or administrator privileges. The application is divided into five main areas: patient tracking list, demographics & report, template editor, directory and a general notepad. Patients can be sorted quickly by any criteria. Other features include spell checking, integrated call and paging, ability to print to any networked printer within our institution and flag cases for future teaching purposes.

Compared to traditional methods of organizing examinations and creating preliminary reports, the present application provides a logical and organized approach. Furthermore, the application offers many features which reduce or eliminate the time required for common tasks. All residents who currently use the program report that it has greatly improved their efficiency and has helped ease the burden of call. Additionally, other practitioners, such as emergency officers, have greatly appreciated the ability to receive preliminary reports to their departmental printers when requested. The software will be demonstrated as part of the presentation.

Bay, G, Optimization of Call Management through Applied Computer Informatics.  Radiological Society of North America 2012 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 25 - November 30, 2012 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2012/12022190.html