How often do you hear this question, “So how old are your exams”?  Nowadays, it comes up quite often.  One of our long-term storage (LTS) systems has over 15 years and 27TB of storage.  We decided to make an attempt at getting corporate buy-in to setting up some purge rules.  These rules fall under the Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) of our Enterprise Archive (EA) for PACS.  To do this correctly, you need to set up implementation rules with buy in from your radiology director, radiologists, and compliance officer at your site.

After a brief meeting, set up a basic rule to identify one of your oldest, most insignificant, studies. Maybe someone that would be over 100 years of age and over your state’s retention law.  Be very specific on which exam to purge. Maybe a chest x-ray from a long-term visit to the ICU. The more information you give the rule, the more precise the removal will be.

Now it’s time to push the domino over and let the Goldberg mechanics take over.  If you set up your rules to precisely remove your test exam, you’ve won a prize.  You have learned the details it takes to set up exam removal and you’re on the road to developing a successful ILM.  If it fails to purge your test exam, retest.  Include your vendor’s tech support if needed. They are getting plenty of practice, as of late.

In the future we’ll discuss whether there is even a need not set up an ILM.  It’s never too early to learn what it takes to keep an orderly exam database. More on to come!