Introduction to Paper by Betty A. Levine, Ph.D., et al, “Assessment of the Integration of a HIS/RIS with a PACS”

SHARING INFORMATION between a PACS and hospital information system/radiology information system (HIS/RIS) is as important today as it was in the late 1980s and the 1990s. We have not solved many of the issues that were identified in this classic article, and new issues have since arisen. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) requirements will affect the way information is shared between systems and how access to the information is provided. Although HIPAA aims to protect a patient’s privacy, it complicates the movement of information between computerized systems, further confounding the development of HIS/RIS and PACS interfaces. Although PACS has become more available to institutions, the PACS interface to the HIS/RIS often remains a complete mystery or is less than what is considered desirable.