Radiology Information Systems

Course Description

Radiology Information Systems equips imaging professionals with knowledge and competencies concerning the purpose, use, maintenance, and regulations associated with the latest radiology management, health information, and medical image management and processing systems. The programme prioritises comprehensive understanding of information systems utilised in radiology practices, with emphasis on their significance in contemporary healthcare settings.

Within the SCNS taxonomy, RTE is the Radiography prefix. Daytona State publishes this at 3 credits, offered fall, spring and summer, giving approximately 45 contact hours at the prefix's didactic convention.

Imaging informatics is one of the most direct routes off the console in this profession, and it is persistently short of people who understand both the clinical work and the systems. A PACS administrator who has been a technologist knows why an examination was mislabelled, what a radiologist actually needs in a hanging protocol, and how a workflow change will land in the department — and that combination is rare enough to be valuable.

Daytona State does not publish a lecture and laboratory split for its RTE courses. The prefix runs at several conventions: C-suffixed courses at approximately 20 contact hours per credit (RTE1111C, RTE1457C, RTE1503C, RTE1513C and RTE1523C), L-suffixed laboratories at 32 (RTE1111L, RTE1503L and RTE1513L all at 1 credit and 32 hours), clinical education far higher (RTE1804L at 1 credit and 128 hours), and unsuffixed didactic courses at approximately 15 to 16 (RTE1001 at 1 credit and 16 hours). This course is unsuffixed and didactic, and is priced at that convention.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

• Describe the information systems used in a radiology department.
• Describe the radiology information system and its functions.
• Describe the picture archiving and communication system and its components.
• Describe the electronic health record and its interaction with imaging.
• Describe medical image management and processing systems.
• Describe the DICOM standard and its purpose.
• Describe HL7 and messaging between systems.
• Describe integration profiles and interoperability.
• Trace an examination through the workflow from order to report.
• Describe the modality worklist and its role in data integrity.
• Identify causes of mismatched or orphaned studies and describe their correction.
• Describe image acquisition, transfer, storage, and retrieval.
• Describe archiving strategies, redundancy, and disaster recovery.
• Describe display standards and monitor quality assurance.
• Describe hanging protocols and reading workflow.
• Describe reporting systems, including voice recognition.
• Describe dose tracking and reporting systems.
• Describe teleradiology and remote reading.
• Describe regulatory requirements affecting imaging records.
• Apply HIPAA privacy and security requirements to imaging data.
• Describe access control and audit logging.
• Describe cybersecurity risks specific to healthcare imaging.
• Describe system downtime procedures and their importance.
• Describe quality assurance and data integrity practices.

Optional Outcomes

• Describe enterprise imaging strategy.
• Describe cloud-based imaging archives.
• Describe artificial intelligence applications in imaging workflow.
• Describe procurement and vendor management.
• Describe informatics certification pathways.
• Describe change management in a clinical department.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• Radiology information systems
• RIS functions
• PACS components
• The electronic health record
• Medical image management and processing systems
• The DICOM standard
• HL7 and messaging
• Integration and interoperability
• Order-to-report workflow
• Modality worklist and data integrity
• Mismatched and orphaned studies
• Acquisition, transfer, storage, retrieval
• Archiving and disaster recovery
• Display standards and monitor QA
• Hanging protocols
• Reporting and voice recognition
• Dose tracking systems
• Teleradiology
• Regulatory requirements for imaging records
• HIPAA privacy and security
• Access control and audit logging
• Healthcare cybersecurity
• Downtime procedures
• Quality assurance and data integrity

Optional Topics

• Enterprise imaging strategy
• Cloud archives
• Artificial intelligence in workflow
• Procurement and vendors
• Informatics certification
• Change management

Resources & Tools

• ARRT (arrt.org) — free content specifications, eligibility rules, and the ethics review process. Read the eligibility requirements before enrolling anywhere.
• JRCERT (jrcert.org) — free accreditation lookup and programme effectiveness data.
• ASRT (asrt.org) — the American Society of Radiologic Technologists; practice standards, continuing education, and student membership.
• Florida Department of Health — radiologic technology certification — free; the authority on Florida requirements and categories.
• Radiologic Science for Technologists (Bushong) — the standard physics, biology, and protection text.
• Merrill's Atlas of Radiographic Positioning — the positioning standard.
• Image Gently and Image Wisely — free dose-optimisation campaigns for paediatric and adult imaging respectively.
• Your clinical preceptors and the department's protocols — the most valuable resource in the programme.
• SIIM — Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (siim.org) — the professional body for this speciality, and the CIIP credential.
• DICOM standard (dicomstandard.org) — free and authoritative; dense, but the definitive reference.
• HHS HIPAA guidance (hhs.gov) — free; the authority on privacy and security requirements.
• Your department's PACS administrator — ask to shadow them. It is the most direct way to find out whether this pathway suits you.

Career Pathways

• Radiologic technologist — SOC 29-2034.
• Hospital diagnostic radiography — the largest employment setting.
• Outpatient imaging centres and physician practices — frequently better hours.
• Computed tomography — a post-primary certification and one of the most common advancements.
• Magnetic resonance imaging — a post-primary certification with its own distinctive safety regime.
• Mammography — a post-primary certification with specific federal regulatory requirements.
• Interventional and cardiovascular radiography — higher acuity and higher pay.
• Surgical and mobile radiography.
• Radiation therapy and nuclear medicine — related professions with their own certifications.
• Applications specialist and equipment support — manufacturers recruit experienced technologists.
• PACS and imaging informatics administration — a growing, well-paid pathway from the technologist role.
• Clinical education, programme instruction, and imaging management — with additional qualifications.

Special Information

⚠⚠ HIPAA applies to images, and imaging is a common breach route

• Medical images are protected health information, and they carry identifying data embedded in the file as well as in the record.
• ⚠ Never photograph a screen or a patient with a personal device. This is the commonest serious breach in imaging departments, and an image shared with a colleague or posted anywhere ends careers.
• Access only what you need for the care you are providing. Systems log every access, and looking up a colleague, a neighbour, or a public figure is detected and it is dismissible.
• Do not share credentials, and never work under someone else's login — the audit trail attributes everything to the account.
• Lock the workstation when you step away, and be aware of what is visible on screens in public areas.
• Discuss patients only where you cannot be overheard, and not at all outside the clinical team.
• De-identification is not simple. Images can carry identifying data in headers and burned into the pixels, and removing it properly requires deliberate action.
• Report suspected breaches immediately — notification obligations have deadlines, and concealment makes everything worse.
• ⚠ Rule 11 applies — privacy and security requirements change; follow current regulation and institutional policy.

⚠ Data integrity starts at the modality — and technologists control it

• Almost every PACS data problem originates at acquisition, with a technologist selecting the wrong entry or entering data manually.
• Use the modality worklist rather than typing patient data. Manual entry is the single largest source of mismatched studies, and a study attached to the wrong patient is both a safety incident and a privacy breach.
• Select the correct procedure and body part, because that drives hanging protocols, comparison retrieval, and billing.
• Check laterality markers. A wrong-side marker can lead to wrong-side treatment, and it is one of the most serious errors a technologist can make.
• Verify images transferred and are complete before the patient leaves; an incomplete study means recalling them and repeating dose.
• Report and correct errors immediately through the proper process rather than attempting an unauthorised fix.
• Know the downtime procedure, and practise it — systems fail, and departments still have to image patients.
• Understand that your accuracy is somebody else's diagnosis. A radiologist reading a mislabelled or incomplete study is being misled.

⚠⚠ Certification and licensure in radiography — verify before you enrol

• The recognised credential is ARRT certification and registration, awarded by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists. It is what employers require and what most state licensure is built on.
• ⚠⚠ Eligibility generally requires completion of an ARRT-recognised educational programme, and radiography programmes are typically accredited by JRCERT. Confirm a programme's accreditation and ARRT recognition before enrolling — the same unrecoverable trap recorded here for CAPTE, CAAHEP, ACOTE, and CoARC.
• Florida licenses radiologic technologists through the Department of Health, and practising without the required licence is an offence. Florida issues several categories of radiologic technology certification with differing scopes.
• Post-primary certifications extend scope — computed tomography, magnetic resonance, mammography, interventional, and others — and they are the principal route to higher pay in this field.
• ARRT requires continuing education and adherence to its ethics requirements for continued registration, and it takes the ethics provisions seriously.
• Background screening and health clearance are required for clinical placement and for licensure. ARRT applies an ethics review to applicants with criminal history — and its pre-application review process exists precisely so this can be established early. Use it before investing in the programme.
• ⚠ Rule 11 applies. Verify with the ARRT, JRCERT, and the Florida Department of Health rather than relying on this guide.

How Florida course levels affect transfer

The first digit of an SCNS number denotes the year of offering, not transferability. Courses at the 1000 and 2000 levels transfer transparently between Florida public institutions, and 3000 to 4000 is unproblematic since both are upper division. The boundary that actually matters is 2000 to 3000, where lower-division credit generally cannot satisfy an upper-division requirement — and it is live here, since Daytona State offers both associate-level and bachelor of applied science coursework in this prefix.

RTE3213 is 3 credits and approximately 45 contact hours, offered fall, spring and summer at Daytona State.

Imaging informatics is a genuine career pathway off the console — the CIIP credential is the recognised certification, and shadowing your department's PACS administrator is the best way to test the fit.