January 29, 2018 — Primary care providers and hospital doctors around the world can now access the imaging referral guidelines from the U.K.’s Royal College of Radiologists, newly integrated into the OrderWise clinical decision support (CDS) solution created by Canadian CDS company MedCurrent.
The OrderWise interface is a CDS software tool that guides referring clinicians through differential diagnoses and helps them make the right imaging request for their patient.
OrderWise now runs with the eighth edition of iRefer: Making the best use of clinical radiology, the most up-to-date referral guidance from The Royal College of Radiologists, which launched in 2017.
iRefer8 was developed by more than 300 practicing radiologists and features over 280 detailed, condition-specific guidelines designed for easy use by doctors, GPs, radiologists, physiotherapists and other referring clinicians.
The integrated OrderWise – iRefer8 CDS package enables referring clinicians and radiology teams to manage diagnostic imaging referrals more effectively; improving hospital workflow and ensuring patients get the right imaging test the first time, with minimized exposure to ionizing radiation.
Preliminary outcomes from Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, Australia, are promising, according to MedCurrent, generating data to facilitate clinician feedback and iteratively improve OrderWise. The intended benefits aim to drive more appropriate referrals for patients and streamline clinical and operational workflows. A second site, The Wollongong Hospital, was planned to go-live on OrderWise with iRefer8 before the end of 2017.
Nicola Strickland, M.D., president of The Royal College of Radiologists, said, “We are delighted to introduce our iRefer8 guidelines to the global market, incorporated within MedCurrent’s fantastic OrderWise package. Radiologists and our referring colleagues must ensure patients get quick and accurate scan results, while being protected from unnecessary radiation. Our expert guidelines, delivered in this innovative CDS format, give clinicians around the world the best tools to make sure we deliver the right imaging tests, protect patients and help hospitals and referrers become more efficient.”
OrderWise with the iRefer8 package was displayed at the 2017 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting, Nov. 26-Dec. 1 in Chicago.
For more information: www.medcurrent.com
July 31, 2024 
