MyPACS is built on top of the Mckesson Medical Imaging Group - Seattle Knowledge Management Framework , a highly scalable, efficient platform for building web-based multimedia clinical applications.  By providing a suite of high-level programmer interfaces, the Mckesson Medical Imaging Group - Seattle Framework enables us to easily extend and customize MyPACS for different institutional requirements.  The framework leverages best-of-breed open source technologies, including the Wirm Application Server. 

There is a growing need for innovative tools that enable clinicians, researchers, and educators to manage multimedia information. The key to managing this data is having metadata, object schemas, classification systems, and workflow models that accurately reflect the structure of the biomedical expert’s domain requirements. One bottleneck in creating such systems is the task of translating domain requirements to a software developer, and waiting for the developer to implement the system.  Ideally, the domain experts should be able to specify the structure of their domain themselves.   Knowledge Management technologies such as the Mckesson Medical Imaging Group - Seattle Framework are beginning to have an impact in the medical informatics arena, making it possible for medical professionals to develop systems that effectively manage the acquisition, organization, and dissemination of their clinical data.  One reason MyPACS is so easy to use is that it was designed by radiologists for radiologists. 

Traditional approaches to biomedical information management treat clinical records as “data” rather than “content”. Clinical record systems typically offer rigid interfaces that support a fixed set of transaction-oriented operations. However, much can be gained from treating biomedical data as “content”: a rich digital asset that can be repurposed for a wide range of applications beyond the clinical encounter from which it was derived. As a source of research findings, medical content can be aggregated and analyzed for clinical trials, outcomes studies, and experimentation. As a source of educational material, medical content provides case studies for medical students and residents. As a source of reference material, medical content can be used to look up related cases for decision support. Recognizing biomedical data as content implies a new requirement for biomedical information management systems: they should facilitate the repurposing of clinical records for research, education, and reference.

By enabling domain experts to build their own individually-tailored interfaces for managing biomedical knowledge, knowledge management technology such as the Mckesson Medical Imaging Group - Seattle Framework is helping to speed the process of scientific discovery, reduce the cost of research, and facilitate the sharing of knowledge.

For more information about MyPACS implementation details, please see our Publications, or contact us at 1-800-931-2983.