Federating clinical data from six pediatric hospitals: process and initial results for microbiology from the PHIS+ consortium.

Microbiology study results are necessary for conducting many comparative effectiveness research studies. Unlike core laboratory test results, microbiology results have a complex structure. Federating and integrating microbiology data from six disparate electronic medical record systems is challenging and requires a team of varied skills. The PHIS+ consortium which is partnership between members of the Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings (PRIS) network, the Children's Hospital Association and the University of Utah, have used "FURTHeR' for federating laboratory data. We present our process and initial results for federating microbiology data from six pediatric hospitals.

Federating clinical data from six pediatric hospitals: process and initial results from the PHIS+ Consortium.

Integrating clinical data with administrative data across disparate electronic medical record systems will help improve the internal and external validity of comparative effectiveness research. The Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) currently collects administrative information from 43 pediatric hospital members of the Child Health Corporation of America (CHCA). Members of the Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings (PRIS) network have partnered with CHCA and the University of Utah Biomedical Informatics Core to create an enhanced version of PHIS that includes clinical data. A specialized version of a data federation architecture from the University of Utah ("FURTHeR") is being developed to integrate the clinical data from the member hospitals into a common repository ("PHIS+") that is joined with the existing administrative data. We report here on our process for the first phase of federating lab data, and present initial results.

PACStacker: an enhancement of the scientific and educational capabilities of PowerPoint.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to develop a way to enhance scientific and educational PowerPoint presentations containing stack-based, multiple-image techniques such as CT and MRI. CONCLUSION: We developed a PowerPoint add-in that facilitates the creation of stackable image sets in a simple and intuitive manner, permitting real-time scrolling, editing, and manipulation of imbedded image stacks. Contrast and brightness adjustments, cropping, and linking are supported. Once created, the PowerPoint presentation can be viewed without hardware or venue limitations on any computer, without reinstallation of the add-in.

Interactive digital MR atlas of the pediatric brain.

The interpretation of magnetic resonance (MR) images of the pediatric brain may require consultation of an atlas to determine if a perceived finding represents an abnormality. However, most hard-copy atlases show only a few levels of the brain at selected points of time in myelination, and therefore a simultaneous comparison of different age groups is difficult with a hard-copy approach. The authors believe that a digital atlas of the normal pediatric brain may be a more efficient way to present this information and that correct interpretation of potential abnormalities may be facilitated by the online atlas they have created (available for free download from http://radiology.seattlechildrens.org/teaching/pediatricbrainatlas). Images for the atlas were derived from Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine-compliant data sets from brain MR imaging in patients younger than 4 years. The images were interpreted as normal with respect to the appearance of the brain parenchyma. The software program used for viewing the atlas, written in C#, incorporates many features of a picture archiving and communication system viewer, such as linked scrolling and resizing. Simultaneous comparison of cases also is possible. The digital atlas facilitates learning about normal changes in the MR appearance of the pediatric brain, and it may be used during online interpretation of cases on a picture archiving and communication system.

MyFreePACS: a free web-based radiology image storage and viewing tool.

OBJECTIVE: We developed an easy-to-use method for central storage and subsequent viewing of radiology images for use on any PC equipped with Internet Explorer. CONCLUSION: We developed MyFreePACS, a program that uses a DICOM server to receive and store images and transmit them over the Web to the MyFreePACS Web client. The MyFreePACS Web client is a Web page that uses an ActiveX control for viewing and manipulating images. The client contains many of the tools found in modern image viewing stations including 3D localization and multiplanar reformation. The system is built entirely with free components and is freely available for download and installation from the Web at www.myfreepacs.com.