[The DICOM-CD-Project of the German Radiology Association--an overview of the content and results of a pilot study in 2006]. / Das DICOM-CD-Projekt der Deutschen Röntgengesellschaft--eine Ubersicht über die Inhalte und Ergebnisse des Pilottests 2006.

DICOM-CDs are frequently used for medical image data transfer. Many different potential advantages are known, such as improved image quality, handling simplification, and cost optimization. However, there are numerous restrictions in the daily routine. While testing DICOM-CDs at the 2006 German Radiology Congress, we found that more than 70 % of CDs have discrepancies with respect to data structure or content. The German Radiological Association and OFFIS started an initiative to improve the quality of DICOM-CDs. There are three main objectives: To provide requirements for vendors of CD-writing systems, to establish user guidelines for the handling of DICOM-CDs, and to develop a test procedure for DICOM-CDs. Radiologists using such systems should be aware of these developments and use them for RFP's.

International standards for hospital communication systems.

A major problem for many Hospital Information Systems is separating modules to meet the information requirements of specialized parts before integration into one system. In most cases the interfaces are proprietary, leading to an enormous amount of implementation work for access to other systems. International Standards, such as a common language in Medical Communication, offer the possibility of reducing this variety and enhancing the information interchange by connecting more systems in shorter time with less cost.

RDA: a standard for client server communication in a hospital information system.

The University of Erlangen-Nürnberg contains a large medical faculty with many hospitals, laboratories, and other departments distributed in the town of Erlangen, and it is necessary to exchange medical data between them. For example the basic patient data which are held on central computers, must be distributed to various stations and departments. In addition medical reports which are prepared on or generated by computers in central departments must be transmitted to various points in the hospitals [1]. When the network, based on ethernet cabling within the hospitals and a glass fiber backbone, has been completed, the Erlangen hospital communication system will support an electronic exchange of medical information. Two separate communication methods are used: data exchange via electronic mail according to the international standard X.400 and remote access to central databases using the software product NET-WORK.

Dissemination of patient data in the Erlangen Hospital communication and information system.

It is necessary to exchange information between the various institutions of the medical faculty of the University of Erlangen-Nurnberg. For example, basic patient data, which is collected in a central computer, must be distributed to various stations and laboratories. Also medical findings, which are already captured in computers in central laboratories, must be transmitted to various parts of the university hospitals. After the data network, consisting of a glass fiber backbone linking the buildings and cabling in the individual departments, had been implemented, it became possible to provide an electronic exchange of medical information.