PICTURE ARCHIVING AND COMMUNICATION-SYSTEM TRAINING FOR PHYSICIANS - LESSONS LEARNED AT THE BALTIMORE VA MEDICAL-CENTER

Physicians practicing at the ''filmless'' Baltimore VA Medical Center need to be proficient in the use of the picture archiving and communic ation system (PACS) to be able to view radiologic images and accompany ing reports. PACS training is necessary to assure optimal patient care and to satisfy potential medicolegal requirements. Providing such tra ining is the responsibility of both the Imaging Department and the hos pital. Training in the use of the PACS at the Baltimore VA is conducte d by an on-site application specialist. Data were collected from inter views with the trainer, training log sheets, and physician surveys. Al though 100% of radiologists received formal training, only 22% of nonr adiologists were formally trained; 32% of these physicians identified themselves as having been trained by their peers and 41% stated they w ere self-trained. We identified two goals of a PACS training program. The first is to teach physicians how to retrieve images and reports fr om current as well as prior studies and display them on a computer wor kstation. Secondly, the training should include instruction on the use of the various workstation tools to enhance image interpretation. Ima ging requirements and usage by different physician groups vary, and PA CS training should be tailored accordingly. Difficulties in the schedu ling of training sessions during working hours and the widespread use of a ''generic'' log-on identification have contributed to the low (22 %) compliance of nonradiologists with the formal training program. Alt hough we believe that one-on-one training is most effective and can be best tailored to the needs and computer expertise of an individual pa rticular physician, computer based training (both on and off-line) may provide an acceptable, and in some cases, a preferred alternative. Co pyright (C) 1996 by W.B. Saunders Company