• Understand all the basic HL7 terminology
• Learn how HL7 is part of the Healthcare Workflow
• Build an HL7 Message
• Focus on the HL7 functional areas
• HL7 Version 3.0 - The Future
• Find out how HL7 deals with security
• Learn the HL7 Control Rules
• How do you find things in the HL7 Standard

Synopsis: This workshop is designed to help people learn the basics of HL7 (Health Level Seven) and to understand how it fits within the healthcare workflow, including how it integrates with DICOM.

Workshop Outline:

• Introduction to HL7
• HL7 Terminology
• How does HL7 fit into the Healthcare Workflow
  • A typical workflow (from Patient Scheduled, Procedure Done, Report Complete, Report Dissemination, through Invoice Sent) highlighting both HL7 & DICOM
  • Specific HL7 transaction in the workflow
• HL7 Concepts
  • Messages Delivery
  • HL7 Information Relationships: Events, Messages, Segments, Elements or Fields, Components and Subcomponents
  • Use of Escape Sequences in Text Fields
  • Convert HL7 to DICOM
  • "Z" Segments
• Build an HL7 Message: Key Segments for Messages
  • MSH - Msg Header Segment
  • "ADT" Key Segments
  • "ORM" Key Segments
  • Message Acknowledgement
• HL7 Control Rules and Build Your Own Message
  • Build Your Own Message
  • Message Construction Rules and the Rest of Chapter 2 - "Control"
• Findings Things in the HL7 Standard
  • Data Definition Tables (Appendix A)
  • Glossary of Terms (Appendix D)
  • Patient Administration (Chapter 3)
  • Order Entry (Chapter 4)
  • Query (Chapter 5)
  • Financial Management (Chapter 6)
  • Observation Reporting (Chapter 7)
  • Master Files (Chapter 8)
  • Medical Records / Information Management [Document Management] (Chapter 9)
  • Scheduling (Chapter 10)
  • Patient Referral (Chapter 11)
  • Patient Care (Chapter 12)
  • Laboratory Automation (Chapter 13)
  • Application Management (Chapter 14)
  • Personnel Management (Chapter 15)
  • Beyond the Appendixes and Chapters
  • Implementation guidelines
  • About interface engines
• HL7 Version 3.0 - The Future
  • What's all included, plus other Version 3.0 Areas
• Security and HL7
  • Scope of HL7 Security and what you can find on the WEB
• HL7 in Summary
  

• Walk away knowing how to read a DICOM Conformance Statement
• Understand all the basic DICOM terminology
• Know how DICOM is utilized within the healthcare enterprise
• Define and compare DICOM interactions

Synopsis: This workshop is designed to help people learn the essentials of DICOM. You'll be able to read and understand what's in a DICOM Conformance Statement by the time you're finished. Plus you’ll have an understanding of the most important DICOM terms.

Outline

• Why does DICOM exist and where does it fit into the healthcare enterprise?
• What features are currently in DICOM and how do they relate to the real world?
• Understanding the DICOM Language:
  • What's an Information Object Definition or IOD?
  • What kind of service does DICOM provide?
  • What's a SOP Class?
  • What's an SCU and SCP or what’s a network role? Plus many more DICOM terms
• How to find your way around the DICOM Standard.
• Understanding the most commonly used DICOM features:
  • Verification of a DICOM application being available over the network
  • Storage of DICOM information over the network
  • Query/Retrieve of DICOM information over the network
  • Insuring that DICOM information is reliably stored on your archive
  • Printing film over the network
  • Getting information to and from the hospital information systems area
  • Moving the DICOM information via Sneaker-Net
• Understanding the up and coming DICOM features:
  • Insure consistency of how grayscale images are being displayed on monitors, and film.
  • How do you control your workflow within your facility using DICOM?
  • How does Radiation Therapy use DICOM?
  • What's happening in cardiology to require DICOM?
  • Why is mammography moving towards Structured Reporting in DICOM?
  • What's common between Endoscopy, Pathology and Ophthalmology in DICOM?
  • What's happening in the world of CT and MR to require them to extend DICOM?
  • Plus other new information!
• You'll get a chance to interactively describe all the functionality needed in a DICOM network.
  • Starting with a single modality, like CT.
  • Include all the DICOM features for a current model modality.
  • Show how each DICOM feature connects to other device in a healthcare enterprise.
• You'll be able to dig into a DICOM Conformance Statement and decipher what it means!
  • After learning what information belongs in it.
  • After comparing DICOM features on some simulated devices and deciding how they match.
  • After walking through a sample conformance statement.
  • After discussing what interoperability requirements must now be included in conformance statements.

• This course is for you if you're in PACS administration, biomedical, product development, service engineering, system design, product marketing, system integration, or product testing and you need DICOM knowledge.
• Throughout the workshop the DICOM Standard will be continuously referenced, so that you will become familiar with how to find what you need for your work in the future.
• You'll get an in depth view of all the DICOM Services, including exactly what each service provider and user is required by DICOM to support.

Prerequisite: attend a DICOM Essentials workshop or have equivalent experience (you can review a brief questionnaire to determine if you already have the basic DICOM knowledge).

Synopsis: This workshop is designed to help people learn the nitty-gritty of DICOM. It assumes you already know how to speak DICOM and understand things like IODs, SOP Classes, SCUs, SCPs, etc. Hopefully, you have looked at a few DICOM Conformance Statements before you get to the workshop.

• This course is for you if you're in PACS administration, biomedical, product development, service engineering, system design, product marketing, system integration, or product testing and you need DICOM knowledge.
• Throughout the workshop the DICOM Standard will be continuously referenced, so that you will become familiar with how to find what you need for yourself in the future.
• We'll share some DICOM shortcuts that we have learned over the years. We'll include:
• a quick reference that points you to where all the important items can be found in each manual and
• a concise set of DICOM rules that you'll never have to dig out of the references manuals again.
• For hospital, service, and integration personnel, we'll start where all the problems start, which is when it initially comes out of the box and you try to get it connected to other devices on your network. Product marketers and developers aren't left out, because you need to know why it is so difficult and what you can do to make matters much easier. And if you thought we forgot about you product testers, you're wrong, because you are the last chance to insure the product works correctly before it gets out into the field.
• You'll get an in depth view of all the DICOM Services, including exactly what each service provider and user is required by DICOM to support.
• Some times you just have to learn how the DICOM messages are encoded and what all the encoding rules are to understand the foundation that DICOM is built on. You'll be surprised at the end of the class, how much more clear the higher level concepts are understood when you know about the little things that make them tick. Besides, it only hurts for a little while!
• During the workshop you'll get to see examples of real DICOM messages that I've captured for the workshop.
• The workshop wouldn't be complete without learning about the Media Interchange capabilities of DICOM.
• And finally, you have the opportunity to find out what you don't know as well as you thought. The post-test allows you to know where you still need a little help, and We'll be able to point you to the right chapters in DICOM to sharpen you up.

Beneficial, but OPTIONAL, is having a set of DICOM Standard reference manuals with you.

• Bring your laptop loaded with a PDF version off the Official DICOM Web Site (they're now free). Go to http://medical.nema.org/, then under "PRODUCTS" select "The DICOM Standard".
• Or bring a hardcopy version of the DICOM Standard (it does not have to be the latest publication).

Outline

Highlights of DICOM terminology (beyond the basics) - are we on the same page.

• Pre-test, to let me know what the class doesn't know vs. what the class does know.
• A needs analysis, so we know what areas to emphasize over the two day workshop.

An in depth use of the DICOM Standard reference manuals.

• We'll just see the tip of the iceberg - we dive into the manuals on a regular basis throughout this workshop.
• What's common in every manual and how do you use it?
• We'll take a brief walk through the manuals to insure we know where everything is.
• We'll review our DICOM Short Cuts list to insure we know how to use it.

Before DICOM there was networking with TCP/IP.

• We'll learn the very basics of networking.
• How does DICOM fit in to this equation?

In the beginning there was a DICOM network connection.

• We'll extract the rules and logic from DICOM PS 3.8 - Network Communications Support for Message Exchange, DICOM PS 3.7 - Message Exchange, and DICOM PS 3.5 - Data Structures and Encoding.
• How is a connection started - or - what is Association/Negotiation?
  • Why does DICOM use goofy names like Abstract Syntax and what is it?
• We'll see how Transfer Syntax rules the encoding of the data within a DICOM message.
  - What do we mean by Big Endian and Little Endian?
  - Why are things both implicitly and explicitly defined and what does it mean?
  - If you need to compress your image data, how is that specified?
• How are Abstract and Transfer Syntax used in conjunction with Presentation Context?
• What is the information flow between DICOM applications?
• How does one get disconnected - or - who can release or abort an Association?

The DICOM message contains the payload!

• The DICOM message is structured based on rules from DICOM PS 3.7 - Message Exchange.
• The Command portion of the message is always present and encoded via DICOM PS 3.7 - Msg Exchange.
• The Data Set portion of the message comes and goes based on message context.
• The encoding and syntax of the Data Set is derived from DICOM PS 3.5 - Data Structures & Encoding.
• This is where we get into the nitty-gritty of the DICOM Data Set.
  • What are Data Elements and how do they relate to Attributes - DICOM PS 3.6 - Data Dictionary.
  • A variety of stuff about Data Sets will be learned - DICOM PS 3.5 - Data Structures and Encoding.
    -How are values represented within a Data Set?
    -Can Attributes contain more than a single value?
    -What's the difference between Enumerated Values and Defined Terms?...And much more!

It will be all brought together for you by exploring the world of Normalized vs. Composite within DICOM.

All the Composite things in DICOM will be exposed here - close your eyes if you're bashful!

• Learn to Read DICOM PS 3.3 - Information Object Definitions from a Composite point of view.
  • Are Information Entities real?
  • What Modules are always required, and what about the ones that aren't?Attributes are definitely defined here and no where else.
  • Composite Attributes are like actors and are type cast here, unlike Normalized one.
• Learn to read DICOM PS 3.7 - Message Exchange from a Composite point of view.
  • What DICOM command insures that the other guy is listening on the network?
  • If you want to send an image somewhere on the network, what command is needed?
  • What set of commands can get stuff out of a DICOM archive?
• Learn to read DICOM PS 3.4 - Service Class Specifications from a Composite point of view.
  • Get a quick overview of the Verification SOP Class.
  • What do Storage SOP Classes accomplish, what rules must be followed, and what errors can occur?
  • Query/Retrieve is a different kind of Composite SOP Class. Let's understand why?

Being Normalized in DICOM is far from normal - let's see why!

• Learn to read DICOM PS 3.3 - Information Object Definitions from a Normalized point of view.
  • Normalized Modules are an unruly bunch from an IOD's point of view.
  • Attributes aren't a lot better, though they can only be defined here.
• Learn to read DICOM PS 3.7 - Message Exchange from a Normalized point of view.
  • Learn how information can be N-CREATEd and later be updated via an N-SET.
  • Do you need something done? Ask for an N-ACTION to be done on your behalf.
  • If somebody has something you want? Go and N-GET it before somebody N-DELETEs it.
  • And finally, when something changes you can have someone N-EVENT-REPORT it to you.
• Learn to read DICOM PS 3.4 - Service Class Specifications from a Normalized point of view.
  • After you combine the IOD with the Command, you can finally type cast the Attributes.
  • We'll look at the study management SOP Classes that are being widely implemented.
  • We won't go home without learning lots about DICOM printing.
  • We'll walk through how you can insure that information is reliably store on an archive.
  • We won't stop there, because DICOM is continually extending the SOPs available to you.

Media Interchange or what is Sneaker-Net?

• DICOM PS 3.10 - Media Storage and File Format for Media Interchange.
• DICOM PS 3.11 - Media Storage Application Profiles.
• DICOM PS 3.12 - Media Formats and Physical Media for Media Interchange.

How does DICOM specify security - DICOM PS 3.15 - Security Profiles?

And in case you're wondering we won't forget things like Structured Reporting, Presentation State, etc.

• You'll learn what you need to know about networking for troubleshooting purposes.
• System integrators will be surprised how much easier it will be to work with other vendors and to ask for the right information from your engineering team after coming to this workshop.
• We'll walk you through a list of what we consider to be the trouble-shooting basics.

Prerequisite: Attend a DICOM In Depth workshop or have equivalent experience (Please read the overview of DICOM In Depth workshop to insure you have correct knowledge).

Required to Bring: Laptop computer with CD-ROM drive, running one of WIN95/98/NT/ME/XP/2000.

• Laptop loaded with a PDF version off the Official DICOM Web Site (they're now free). Go to http://medical.nema.org/, then under "PRODUCTS" select "The DICOM Standard".
• Or bring a hardcopy version of the DICOM Standard (it does not have to be the latest publication).
• Note: If you have multiple people attending from the same organization, then you are allowed to share the above mentioned resources. It is recommend that not more than 3 people share the same resource.

Synopsis: This workshop is designed to help people who are actually working in the field, a test or a validation environment. It assumes you already know DICOM very well. Hopefully, you're actually dealing with current problems that we can discuss in the workshop, along with all the captured problems we'll be bringing for you to work through.

• You'll want to come to this course if you're a PACS administrator who gets her hands dirty helping the vendors come to a quicker resolution of a problem or a biomedical engineer that roles his sleeves up for similar reasons.
• System integrators and service engineers must come to this workshop. You'll be surprised how much easier it will be to work with other vendors and to ask for the right things from your engineering team.
• If you're doing any level of product testing that validates your products on the network doing DICOM connectivity, then you need to be here too.
• We will be continuously referring to the DICOM Standard as we work through the problems so that you can refresh your minds as to where you can find the answers to the problems you encounter in the field. We'll also do a quick overview of how to use the DICOM shortcuts document that I've developed and will be on your CD.
• You'll receive a CD with all the captured DICOM connections that are used in the workshop. Included on this CD will be notes describing each captured connection in detail, so that you will be able to reference these after the class when you are trying to solve a problem on your own that was similar to one we had in the workshop.
• There is a set of captured connections, which include a sample of the basic Verification, Storage and Query/Retrieve interactions that you would encounter in the field. Some of them have a status of successful and others have various types of error conditions that you will have the opportunity to work through in the workshop.
• Similarly, we have captured DICOM printing, the HIS/RIS connections (Modality Worklist and Modality Performed Procedure Step), Storage Commitment to insure an archive has reliably stored information it had received earlier, and more to come.

Outline

• Load MergeDPM software and review its functionality.
• We'll discuss various network capture software (sniffers) that can save files for the MergeDPM. If you've used any sniffers that you've liked or didn't like, we'll talk about that as well.
• You'll learn what you need to know about networking for troubleshooting purposes. This is not an in depth section on networking, but rather how you should approach problem solving when you don't have a heavy network background.
• We'll walk you through a list of what we consider the trouble shooting basics. We'll have a discussion of the pros and cons of various approaches and we'll add in your experiences and tricks of the trade, as well.
• You get to walk through a couple of simple DICOM messages to make sure you know how to use the MergeDPM and how to find the appropriate information in the overall connection, as well as within individual messages from the SCU and SCP.
• We'll step through many different DICOM scenarios, insuring that we cover a broad range of SOP Classes. You'll get a chance to see scenarios that are fairly common in the real world, many error scenarios. We'll share with you why the errors occur and how to avoid them. Throughout this walk through you will be given the opportunity to decide what the error was, whose problem it was (the SCU or SCP), and what would have prevented the error, if it was preventable.