A pilot study has begun in the U.K. of clinical decision support (CDS) software based on referral guidelines from the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR).
The trial of the iRefer CDS software was launched on 15 November as part of a six-month pilot program at London North West University Healthcare National Health Service (NHS) Trust. The pilot follows similar trials in Australia, Canada, and the Middle East.
iRefer will be used for imaging requests by clinicians in primary care, acute ambulatory care, and rheumatology before wider release. The software provides a user-friendly interface to guide referring clinicians through making the most appropriate imaging requests for patients, based upon their clinical symptoms and exam findings. The application then sends requests electronically and tracks their results via the hospital trust's integrated IT systems.
The software incorporates the RCR's iRefer radiology referral guidelines into software developed by Canadian CDS firm MedCurrent.
