Do you use the Philips PACS/WebDI? Do you rely on the Exceptions Queue to access relevant priors from other health authorities? If you answered yes to either of these questions, Federation impacts you.

Spend less time looking for images

Federation is a new tool available in the Philips PACS/WebDI that enables you to find and view prior exams and reports stored in the Provincial Diagnostic Imaging Repository (DIR). This means your workflow will be streamlined and you won’t have to use CareConnect and the DICOM Exchange Server (DES) as often as you currently do.

By default, Federation is turned off and must be activated by each user manually. Don’t worry; activation is easy, immediate, and only has to be done once per user.

Say good-bye to health authority exceptions

Once Federation is available, all external Health Authority exams in the Exceptions Queue will be removed; moving forward, these exams will be available with Federation. If you use the Exceptions Queue to view exams from other Health Authorities, it’s particularly important that you activate Federation promptly, so you have uninterrupted access to the exams you use the most.

You’d rather continue using your existing CareConnect workflow? No problem! Still proceed with activating Federation, but feel free to access exams using the method you’re most comfortable with. This way you’ll have the benefit of seamless access to federated studies if and when you need them directly in the PACS/WebDI.

Activate Federation on July 25, 2016

You can activate Federation starting on July 25, 2016. As we get closer to the activation date, we’ll be providing you with more information about Federation as well as instructions on how to activate and use it. Be sure to check your emails for Federation materials.

If you have any questions, please contact Scott Schroeder, Project Manager, PACS/Connecting DI, at Scott.Schroeder@phsa.ca or Valerie Lukac, Program Manager, Connecting DI, at Valerie.Lukac@phsa.ca.