# Caresoft Imaging

> Radiology Information System (RIS) and PACS for hospitals, from Caresoft
> Systems Private Limited. Covers the full radiology workflow: ordering,
> modality worklist, DICOM image archive, technician workflow, radiologist
> reporting and e-signature, teleradiology, report delivery, and department
> analytics. Natively integrated with Caresoft HIS.

Publisher: Caresoft Systems Private Limited
Contact: imaging@caresoft.co.in
Website: https://imaging.caresoft.co.in

## What it does
- Equipment & modality management: Every machine registered with its AE title, conformance notes and DICOM echo heartbeat. AMC expiry, preventive maintenance and downtime tracked in the same place.
- Orders & scheduling: Orders arrive from Caresoft HIS with the accession number already generated. Slot-based scheduling per modality, prep instructions sent to the patient before they arrive.
- Modality worklist: The technician selects the patient on the console instead of typing the name. That single change removes the most common cause of mismatched studies.
- Ingestion & reconciliation: Studies land, metadata syncs, index rows write. Anything arriving without a matching order goes to an unmatched queue and is reconciled with a full audit trail.
- Technician workflow: Acquisition start and stop, repeat and reject analysis with reason codes, contrast log with batch number, film and consumable usage posted back to inventory.
- Radiologist worklist & reporting: Configurable worklist, automatic prior fetch, template library, macros, structured fields, draft and verify, e-sign, and full version history that is never overwritten.
- Critical findings: Flag it, notify the referring doctor instantly, capture the acknowledgement, escalate if nobody responds. Your NABH evidence writes itself.
- Teleradiology: Forward studies to a central node, allocate to internal, empanelled or outsourced radiologists, watch the SLA clock, and reconcile partner billing monthly.
- Report delivery: Back into the HIS record, out to the patient by WhatsApp or QR, and into the referring physician portal. Signed, verifiable, and traceable to the moment it was viewed.
- Storage & lifecycle: Growth projections, hot-to-cold tiering, retention rules by patient category, verified backups, and a study export tool you can run yourself.
- MIS & analytics: Turnaround time, modality utilisation, repeat and reject rate, radiologist productivity, revenue by referrer. Drill from a number to the study behind it.

## Deployment
- On-premise site node inside the hospital LAN, or Caresoft cloud, or both.
- DICOM services supported: C-STORE, C-FIND, C-MOVE, Modality Worklist, MPPS, DICOMweb.
- Images are stored in standard DICOM format and can be exported in bulk at any time.

## Important limitation
The Caresoft Imaging web viewer is provided for clinical review, referring
physician access and patient access. A viewer used for primary diagnostic
interpretation is regulated as a software medical device; that certification
is a separate track and is not claimed here.

## Common questions
Q: Does Caresoft Imaging work with our existing imaging machines?
A: Yes. Almost every modality manufactured in the last two decades speaks DICOM, and Caresoft Imaging connects over standard DICOM services: C-STORE for receiving images, Modality Worklist for sending the patient list to the console, and MPPS where the machine supports it. Each machine is registered with its AE title and tested during installation. Genuinely legacy analogue equipment can be brought in through a frame grabber or manual upload.

Q: Can we run it on our own server, or does it have to be cloud?
A: Both are supported. Most hospitals run a site node inside their own LAN so that image retrieval stays on local network speed, with optional forwarding to a Caresoft cloud node for teleradiology. Smaller clinics and diagnostic centres often run cloud-only over a VPN. The application is the same in either case.

Q: How much storage will we need?
A: A hospital running CT, MRI and routine radiography typically generates between 1.5 and 3 TB per year. Multiply that by your retention requirement, add about 30 percent headroom, and plan backup capacity at roughly twice the primary. Caresoft Imaging shows consumed storage, growth rate and a projected exhaustion date so this stops being a surprise.

Q: Does it integrate with Caresoft HIS?
A: Natively. Orders, patient demographics, ADT movements, billing status and patient merges flow from the HIS into imaging, and study status, finalised reports, image links and consumable usage flow back. It is a single sign-on and a single audit trail, not a bridge between two products.

Q: Is the viewer approved for primary diagnostic reporting?
A: The Caresoft Imaging web viewer is provided for clinical review, referring physician access and patient access. A viewer used for primary diagnostic interpretation is regulated as a software medical device, and Caresoft is pursuing that certification as a separate track. Where a hospital requires a certified primary-read viewer today, Caresoft Imaging runs alongside one and continues to own the order, worklist, reporting, delivery and analytics.

Q: What happens to our images if we ever change vendor?
A: They stay in standard DICOM format and can be exported in bulk at any time using the built-in export tool. Nothing is held in a proprietary container. We would rather earn the renewal than trap the data.

Q: Can radiologists report from outside the hospital?
A: Yes. Remote reading is a core capability rather than an add-on. Studies can be forwarded to a central node, allocated to internal, empanelled or outsourced radiologists, and read in a browser with the same worklist and templates used inside the hospital. SLA clocks and the audit trail stay in your system.

Q: How long does implementation take?
A: A single-modality proof of concept usually runs in a day. A full department, with all modalities connected, templates loaded, users trained and HIS integration live, typically takes four to eight weeks depending on the number of machines and how much legacy data is being migrated.

## Articles
- [Teleradiology models for Indian hospitals: which one fits you](https://imaging.caresoft.co.in/post.php?s=teleradiology-models-for-indian-hospitals): Indian hospitals typically choose between three teleradiology models: internal radiologists reading remotely after hours, empanelled independent radiologists paid per study, and a full outsourced teleradiology provider. Internal cover gives the most control, empanelment gives the best cost per study for moderate volumes, and full outsourcing suits low-volume or overnight-only requirements.
- [NABH requirements for a radiology department: the evidence you need](https://imaging.caresoft.co.in/post.php?s=nabh-requirements-radiology-department): NABH assessment of a radiology department focuses on documented evidence rather than intent: repeat and reject analysis with reason codes, communication of critical findings with acknowledgement, turnaround time monitoring against a defined standard, radiation safety records, and equipment maintenance logs. Each of these can be captured automatically during normal work.
- [How to reduce radiology report turnaround time without hiring](https://imaging.caresoft.co.in/post.php?s=reduce-radiology-report-turnaround-time): Radiology turnaround time is usually lost in waiting, not in reading. The four common gaps are order-to-arrival, arrival-to-acquisition, acquisition-to-allocation, and verified-to-delivered. Measuring each separately, rather than reporting a single end-to-end average, shows which one to fix first and usually removes hours without adding staff.
- [What is a PACS, and how does it actually work in a hospital?](https://imaging.caresoft.co.in/post.php?s=what-is-pacs-and-how-does-it-work): A PACS is the system that receives images from imaging machines, stores them in the DICOM standard, and delivers them to radiologists and referring doctors on demand. It has four parts: the modalities that produce images, the archive that stores them, the network that moves them, and the viewers that display them. A PACS replaces film and CDs entirely.