By the endRoute the import to exception management and reconcile the patient and procedure data before storing or making the imported objects available.
Start with the failure: Import outside imaging safely
Images on outside media come from another enterprise, which usually uses different patient and order identifiers. IHE Portable Data for Imaging covers identifying the media source and the patient and reconciling data during import. The importer reconciles key patient and study attributes with local data known to be accurate, and it keeps the original object identifiers.
What happened
The patient name on the disc matches a local record, but the birth date does not. A matching name is not enough, because the user must confirm that the correct patient is associated with the imported data.
What counts as fixed
The imported objects carry the local patient and procedure data and keep their original object identifiers. Errors such as choosing the wrong patient demographics are handled through import exception management.
Worked example
An ordinary failure with a narrow cause: Import outside imaging safely
A trauma disc has the correct name but a different birth date.
1
Describe the failure
The importer expected the disc to match one local patient. The name matches that patient, but the birth date differs from the local record, so the identity is not yet confirmed.
2
Keep the scope small
Compare the disc's patient name and birth date with the local patient record and any scheduled procedure for the import.
3
Run the check
Apply the importing site's written rule for outside demographics. IHE leaves it to the policies of the importing enterprise to decide whether demographics from the import data, such as birth date, can be used.
Result: The objects are stored only after the patient and procedure data have been reconciled with the local record, and they keep their original object identifiers.
What the result supports: Import outside imaging safely
A reconciled import settles patient identity for the objects it imported. Some content on the disc can still fall outside it.
Supported
The imported objects carry local patient and procedure data and keep their original object identifiers.
The stored objects can be read or used as relevant priors for future reads.
Still unknown
Objects of a DICOM class the importer cannot handle are not imported, and the importer must tell the operator which studies and series are affected.
Non-DICOM data on the disc, such as a report in another format, is outside the profile, and its reliable import has not been addressed.
Try it
Try the same reasoning: Import outside imaging safely
A trauma disc has the correct name but a different birth date. What must the importer confirm before the images are stored, and where does IHE send an import error such as choosing the wrong patient?
Hint: The imported objects are not native to your enterprise.
The importer must make sure the correct patient is associated with the imported data and, if the import was scheduled, validate the procedure information as well. Errors such as selecting the wrong patient demographics go to import exception management, which IHE requires for Import Reconciliation Workflow.
02 / Questions
Answer 4 questions
Choose an answer. The explanation appears after you submit.
Check 1 of 4recall · medium
A hospital imports a CT study from an outside disc for a second read. The disc carries the outside hospital's Patient ID. What does the IHE Portable Media Importer do with it?
The Portable Media Importer reconciles the data as needed, for example changing the recorded Patient ID to the local Patient ID, using local data known to be accurate. The Study Instance UID is one of the elements that must be maintained, so it is not replaced. Keeping the outside Patient ID or rejecting the disc skips the reconciliation the profile describes.
Check 2 of 4scenario · medium
A trauma disc has the correct name but a different birth date. What should the team do next?
An imported disc is not native to the enterprise, so IHE says the user's check that the correct patient is associated with the imported data is critical, and Import Reconciliation Workflow requires exception management for errors such as selecting the wrong patient demographics. Trusting the name alone, overwriting the local birth date from the disc, or storing first and reconciling later skips that check.
Check 3 of 4recall · medium
During an import, the importer must change the Patient ID in the outside images to the local one. What does IHE Import Reconciliation Workflow say about the original identifiers and values?
Import Reconciliation Workflow requires the original DICOM object identifiers to be kept in the imported objects, and when attribute values must change it provides a way to preserve a copy of the original values inside them. Discarding the original values or assigning new instance UIDs loses that trail, and a second copy under the outside Patient ID is not part of reconciliation.
Check 4 of 4recall · hard
An imaging department is reviewing its existing import procedure, built on the original IHE Import Reconciliation Workflow (IRWF) in RAD TF-1 §21, which IHE has deprecated in favor of IRWF.b. Under that profile, which decision is left to the importing enterprise's own policy?
IRWF says the policies of the importing enterprise determine whether demographics from the import data, such as birth date or patient sex, can be used. The other points are fixed by the profile: original object identifiers must be maintained, the Study UID from the Modality Worklist is ignored, and exception management is required. IHE directs new implementations to IRWF.b, so this answer describes the deprecated §21 text.
03 / Recall
Answer without looking back
Without looking back, say what an importer must reconcile on outside media and which identifiers it must keep.
The importer reconciles key patient and study attributes, such as the Patient ID, with local data known to be accurate, and validates the procedure information when the import was scheduled. The original DICOM object identifiers must be kept in the imported objects.