Radiology data processing and standardization techniques

Abstract

Systems and methods for establishing standardization of radiology imaging procedure types and data related to such radiology imaging procedure types are disclosed herein. Radiology imaging data produced from radiology procedures at plurality of different systems and locations may produce different data formats and data values, even for the same radiology procedure. In one example, a radiology imaging order system is configured to standardize these different data formats and data values to a standardized format and identification that can be used for radiology study assignment, categorization, analytics, and related data federation activities. In further examples, multiple radiology procedures from respective facilities are normalized to a radiology procedure type schema, with each normalized radiology procedure type identifiable with a human-readable procedure identifier. Other examples of processing activities and use of the procedure identifier and standardized data are also disclosed herein.

1 - 28 . (canceled) 
     
     
         29 . A method for data processing and standardization, performed by a computing device, with operations of the computing device comprising:
 processing data associated with a particular medical imaging procedure to obtain characteristics of the particular medical imaging procedure, wherein the data associated with the particular medical imaging procedure includes a source medical imaging procedure identifier applied by a source medical facility;   identifying multiple standardized data values from the characteristics of the particular medical imaging procedure, wherein the identified multiple standardized data values are selected respectively from among available values of multiple standardized data fields;   determining a standardized procedure identifier for the data associated with the particular medical imaging procedure, based on the multiple standardized data values, wherein the standardized procedure identifier provides identification of a particular type of medical imaging procedure; and   recording, in a medical information system, an association of the standardized procedure identifier to the data associated with the particular medical imaging procedure, wherein the standardized procedure identifier is associated with the source medical imaging procedure identifier that is applied by the source medical facility to identify the particular type of medical imaging procedure;   wherein the standardized procedure identifier is associated with additional medical imaging procedure identifiers that are respectively used by other medical facilities to identify the particular type of medical imaging procedure.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the available values of the standardized data values reflect identifiable characteristics of multiple types of medical imaging procedures, and wherein the particular type of medical imaging procedure is identified among the multiple types of medical imaging procedures. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29 , the operations further comprising:
 routing the data associated with the particular medical imaging procedure for a diagnostic evaluation of images produced from the particular medical imaging procedure, the routing performed for the particular type of medical imaging procedure based on use of the standardized procedure identifier.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the particular medical imaging procedure is a radiological imaging procedure, wherein the data associated with the particular medical imaging procedure includes radiology procedure data produced for a radiology study, wherein the radiology procedure data includes order data of a radiology read request and image data of images produced by an imaging modality. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , the operations further comprising:
 identifying a first portion of the data associated with the particular medical imaging procedure from the order data of the radiology read request; and   identifying a second portion of the data associated with the particular medical imaging procedure from the image data produced by the imaging modality;   wherein determining the standardized procedure identifier for the data associated with the particular medical imaging procedure is performed based on an identification of the particular type of medical imaging procedure from a plurality of defined radiological study types, using the first portion of the data and the second portion of the data associated with the particular medical imaging procedure.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the standardized procedure identifier is a unique alphanumeric value. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 29 . wherein the standardized procedure identifier is associated with at least one characteristic of the particular type of medical imaging procedure that is determined based on a designation of one or more of: a remote or local interpretation, a procedure code, an imaging modality type, a use of contrast, a body region, a body system, a body part, or a subspecialty. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the standardized procedure identifier is associated with standardized data values of standardized data characteristics, the standardized data characteristics including at least one of:
 a CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) description;   a CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) code;   an imaging modality designation;   a functional modality designation;   a CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid) RVU (relative value unit) value;   a contrast usage designation;   a body region value;   a radiologist location designation;   a primary subspecialty designation;   a secondary subspecialty designation;   an internal procedure description;   a provider type;   a preliminary work unit designation;   a final work unit designation; or   a facility specific identifier.   
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 29 , the operations further comprising:
 performing data analysis on data associated with multiple medical imaging procedures, the multiple medical imaging procedures including the particular medical imaging procedure, wherein respective procedures of the multiple medical imaging procedures are identified with use of the standardized procedure identifier.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 29 , the operations further comprising:
 customizing an image viewing environment based on the standardized procedure identifier, wherein the standardized procedure identifier is associated with viewing environment characteristics.   
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 29 , the operations further comprising:
 coordinating movement of the data associated with the particular medical imaging procedure between an onsite facility and a remote location based on the standardized procedure identifier.   
     
     
         40 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium, the machine-readable medium including instructions for data processing and standardization, which when executed by a machine having at least one hardware processor, causes the machine to perform operations including:
 processing an instance of data produced from a medical imaging procedure to determine characteristics of the medical imaging procedure, wherein the instance of data produced from the medical imaging procedure includes a source medical imaging procedure identifier used by a source medical facility;   identifying multiple standardized data values from multiple standardized data fields defined for respective characteristics of medical imaging procedures, the multiple standardized data values being identified from the determined characteristics of the medical imaging procedure;   determining a standardized procedure identifier to associate with the medical imaging procedure, based on the multiple standardized data values, wherein the standardized procedure identifier provides identification of a particular type of medical imaging procedure; and   recording, in a medical information system, an association of the standardized procedure identifier to the medical imaging procedure, wherein the standardized procedure identifier is associated with the source medical imaging procedure identifier that is used by the source medical facility;   wherein the standardized procedure identifier is associated with additional medical imaging procedure identifiers that are respectively used by other medical facilities to identify the particular type of medical imaging procedure.   
     
     
         41 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 40 , the instructions to further perform operations including:
 routing the instance of data produced from the medical imaging procedure, the routing being performed to facilitate a diagnostic evaluation of the particular type of medical imaging procedure, and the routing being performed using the standardized procedure identifier.   
     
     
         42 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 40 , wherein the instance of data produced from the medical imaging procedure provides radiology procedure data, and wherein the medical imaging procedure is a radiological imaging procedure, the instructions to further perform operations including:
 processing the radiology procedure data, the radiology procedure data originating from a medical facility conducting the radiological imaging procedure;   identifying a first portion of the standardized data values from an order produced with the radiological imaging procedure; and   identifying a second portion of the standardized data values from a set of medical images produced with the radiological imaging procedure;   wherein identifying the multiple standardized data values from multiple standardized data fields defined for various medical imaging procedures includes identifying the determined characteristics of the radiological imaging procedure occurring at the medical facility, using the first portion and the second portion of the standardized data values.   
     
     
         43 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 40 , wherein the multiple standardized data fields provide data values respectively for designating: an imaging modality type used in the medical imaging procedure, a use of contrast in the medical imaging procedure, and a body region captured with the medical imaging procedure. 
     
     
         44 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 40 , wherein the standardized procedure identifier is a unique alphanumeric value, and wherein the standardized procedure identifier is associated with at least one characteristic of the particular type of medical imaging procedure that is determined based on a designation of a remote or local interpretation, a procedure code, an imaging modality type, a use of contrast, a body region, a body system indication, a body part indication, or a subspecialty indication. 
     
     
         45 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 40 , wherein the standardized procedure identifier is associated with standardized data values of standardized data characteristics, the standardized data characteristics including at least one of:
 a CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) description;   a CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) code;   an imaging modality designation;   a functional modality designation;   a CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid) RVU (relative value unit) value;   a contrast usage designation;   a body region value;   a radiologist location designation;   a primary subspecialty designation;   a secondary subspecialty designation;   an internal procedure description;   a provider type;   a preliminary work unit designation;   a final work unit designation; or   a facility specific identifier.   
     
     
         46 . A system, comprising:
 at least one processor and memory;   a storage device to provide data processing and standardization instructions to be executed via the processor and memory, to cause the system to:
 process an instance of imaging data produced from a medical imaging procedure of a particular type of medical imaging procedure, wherein the instance of imaging data includes a source medical imaging procedure identifier applied by a source medical facility; 
 identify multiple data values from the instance of imaging data, the multiple data values identified from a combination of multiple standardized data values established respectively for multiple standardized data fields; 
 determine a standardized procedure identifier for the instance of imaging data, based on the multiple standardized data values, wherein the standardized procedure identifier provides identification of the particular type of medical imaging procedure; and 
 record, in a medical information system, an association of the standardized procedure identifier to the instance of imaging data, wherein the standardized procedure identifier is associated with the source medical imaging procedure identifier that is applied by the source medical facility; 
 wherein the standardized procedure identifier is associated with additional medical procedure identifiers that are respectively applied by other medical facilities to identify the particular type of medical imaging procedure. 
   
     
     
         47 . The system of  claim 46 , wherein the medical imaging procedure produces data for a radiology study, and the system further comprising a radiology information system (RIS), the RIS configured to correlate the radiology study in a RIS instance with the particular type of medical imaging procedure based on use of the standardized procedure identifier. 
     
     
         48 . The system of  claim 46 , wherein the medical imaging procedure produces data for a radiology study, and the system further comprising a Picture Archiving Communication System (PACS), the PACS configured to receive and process images produced from the particular type of medical imaging procedure in a PACS instance based on use of the standardized procedure identifier. 
     
     
         49 . The system of  claim 46 , the storage device to further provide image processing instructions and order processing instructions to be executed via the processor and memory, to cause the system to:
 perform image processing operations on an image set associated with the medical imaging procedure, the image processing operations including operations to obtain values for the standardized procedure identifier as a result of accessing the image set and extracting metadata from the image set, the metadata including patient information or medical facility information; and   perform order processing operations with an order associated with the medical imaging procedure, the order processing operations including operations to determine whether the image set is to be forwarded to an image review system, and to correlate the image set with a radiology order based on the standardized procedure identifier.   
     
     
         50 . The system of  claim 46 , the storage device to further provide workflow assignment instructions to be executed via the processor and memory, to cause the system to:
 implement a workflow assignment of the instance of imaging data based on workflow criteria, the workflow criteria including at least one of: radiologist qualifications, radiologist requirements, radiologist preferences, or radiologist metrics.   
     
     
         51 . The system of  claim 46 , wherein the standardized procedure identifier is determined at least in part from one or more of: a procedure code, a modality indication, a contrast indication, a body region indication, a body system indication, a body part indication, or a subspecialty indication. 
     
     
         52 . The system of  claim 51 ,
 wherein the standardized procedure identifier is determined at least in part from: a modality indication, a contrast indication, and a body region indication;   wherein the modality indication is provided from a value that indicates: Computed Tomography Angiography, Computed Tomography, Interventional Radiology, Fluoroscope, Magnetic Resonance Angiography, Magnetic Resonance, Nuclear Medicine, Positron Emission Tomography, Ultrasound, or X-Ray;   the contrast indication is a value that indicates: with contrast, without contrast, or with and without contrast; and   the body region indication is a value that indicates: Abdomen, Breast, Chest, Head, Neck, Lower Extremity, Pelvis, General, Spine, Upper Extremity, or Whole Body.   
     
     
         53 . The system of  claim 51 , wherein the standardized procedure identifier is further determined based on a remote or local indication indicating a local or remote procedure, and the source medical imaging procedure identifier.