Radiology Overview

The Radiology module manages imaging orders (X-Ray, CT, MRI, Ultrasound and similar) through a radiology-native workflow. Unlike the Laboratory module — which is built around physical specimens and parameter values — radiology is built around imaging studies: the patient goes to a modality, images are produced, and a radiologist writes findings and an impression.

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Radiology follows the standard imaging workflow (IHE Scheduled Workflow): order → schedule → patient arrives → scan performed → images captured → radiologist reports → report finalised and distributed. There is no specimen, no barcode printing, and no LIS — those are Laboratory concepts and do not apply here.

Workflow at a glance

fa-shopping-cart | Order placed | We place the order, like ordering food.
fa-calendar | Scheduled | We pick a time on the calendar.
fa-user | Patient arrives | This is the person we are helping.
fa-heartbeat | Scan performed | A picture or scan is taken.
fa-picture-o | Images captured | The pictures are saved safely.
fa-user-md | Radiologist reports | We make a neat report to share.
fa-check | Finalised? | The report is locked and ready.
fa-paper-plane | Report distributed | We make a neat report to share.

The radiology study workflow

Each imaging order can contain several studies (packages). Every study tracks its own exam status, report and (where integrated) DICOM images.

Exam status

A study moves through an exam-status lifecycle:

ORDERED → SCHEDULED → ARRIVED → IN_PROGRESS → COMPLETED

with the terminal states CANCELLED, NO_SHOW and DISCONTINUED.

Report status

The radiologist's report is tracked separately from the exam status, through:

DRAFT → PRELIMINARY → FINAL → AMENDED

This separation means an exam can be COMPLETED (images acquired) while its report is still DRAFT.

What a radiology study records

Each study captures imaging-specific data, including:

• Accession number, order priority (ROUTINE, URGENT, STAT), clinical indication and history, and the ordering physician.
• Body site and laterality (LEFT, RIGHT, BILATERAL, NA) — important for patient safety and modality worklists.
• Patient preparation instructions and whether contrast is required.
• Technologist tracking — who performed the scan and when.
• A structured report: indication, comparison, technique (including contrast type/agent/volume and radiation dose), findings, impression, recommendations, the template used, and report status. Reports can be signed (with signer and timestamp) and amended (each amendment records text, who amended it, when, and the reason).
• Critical-finding communication — whether a finding is critical, who it was communicated to, when, by whom, the method, and whether read-back was confirmed (ACR-style compliance).
• DICOM metadata and files — study/series/SOP instance UIDs, modality, study description, body part, image count, and a viewer URL — for integration with an imaging/PACS server.

Reporting actions

The radiology report screen supports the expected actions for an imaging workflow:

• Upload report — attach a report file (PDF/document) to a study; uploading sets the study to COMPLETED, logs an UPLOAD activity, and notifies the patient via message/email. A bulk upload applies one file to several studies at once.
• Submit / Approve / Reject — submit the radiologist's findings, approve (or edit) them, or reject with a reason. Each action is recorded in the study's activity log.
• Send — send the report to the patient.
• Clear / Clear package — close a study or the whole order; clearing all studies clears the linked radiology appointment(s).

See Appointments & Permissions for booking and the permission model.