Development of an Inter-hospital Medical Radiological Image Transfer System to Improve Service Efficiency.
Keywords:
Radiological image transfer system, Health information system, DICOM, PACS, Hospital networkAbstract
This research and development study aimed to develop an inter-hospital medical radiological image transfer system, evaluate its efficiency, and assess user satisfaction. The study was conducted in 73 network hospitals from February 2016 to June 2022 and consisted of three phases: situation analysis, system development and trial implementation, and outcome evaluation. Sample size includes 220 personnel from network hospitals. The research instruments included focus group guidelines, an 18-item system efficiency questionnaire, and a 14-item. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, pre-post statistical tests, and content analysis.
The developed system, X-ray Link of Amnatcharoen, was a web application using PHP and MySQL. It supported DICOM files, DICOM header retrieval via API, LINE notification, dashboard, server monitoring, role-based access control, HTTPS, session timeout, and data backup. The overall system efficiency was at a good level (mean = 4.27, SD = 0.66), with the highest score in system functionality (mean = 4.36, SD = 0.63). Overall user satisfaction was at a high level (mean = 4.21, SD = 0.59). After implementation, the average image transfer time decreased from 46.32 to 12.58 minutes, while transfer errors, repeat transfers, repeated coordination, and cost per transfer decreased. Data completeness and successful transfer rate increased significantly.
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