1. Alberta health images to go digital.
- Author
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Brewin, Bob
- Subjects
DIAGNOSTIC imaging ,MEDICAL imaging systems ,MEDICAL equipment ,MEDICAL technology ,DIGITAL communications ,DIGITAL electronics - Abstract
This article reports that officials in Alberta, Canada, have started a $177 million project to digitize diagnostic medical imagery by 2008 for all clinics, even those in the province's most remote regions. Linda Miller, director of information management at Alberta Health and Wellness, the provincial health care agency, said Alberta is the first province in Canada to develop a province-wide digital imagery plan. Officials expect their health imagery to be filmless by 2008 as part of an on-going electronic health record strategy to move the province's 5,800 doctors from paper to electronic systems. Apparently, about 3 million people use the province's medical system. Alberta Health and Wellness officials allegedly plan to digitize almost all diagnostic imagery, including X-rays and scans from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, according to Miller. In a statement issued by Miller, she said that the exception will be mammography and scans, which present greater technical challenge. Apparently, the province has 15 government-funded MRI machines, and getting the results can take days for critical scans and more than five months for routine procedures. Officials expect the digital imaging system to significantly reduce MRI wait times, in some cases to hours for critical scans.
- Published
- 2005