To foster standardized methods for exchange of digital clinical data in ophthalmology, the Academy has been working with several standards-based approaches to facilitate the use of digital imaging in ophthalmology.

The Working Group on Ophthalmic Standards was formed with the support of the Academy in collaboration with vendor and user groups, to foster the development and implementation of standards that facilitate the exchange of digital information in eye care environments.

The Academy is active in DICOM and has launched a multi-year effort to comprehensively model ophthalmic terminology for SNOMED. Once these standards are completed, ophthalmologists will have much better tools to meet the needs for digital information. For information on how to join, contact us by e-mail at quality@aao.org.

DICOM-Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine is the global standard for exchanging biomedical imaging and image information. Originally designed for radiology, the standard now encompasses ultrasound, radiotherapy, waveforms and visible light imaging. DICOM is also developing a standardized approach for Structured Reporting-elements of the metadata that describe the content of images.

SNOMED-Standardized terminology (with a coding system that is machine interpretable) is essential to facilitate the exchange of clinical data. This forms the foundation for electronic patient records and the same structured terminology can be used for reporting on images (i.e., SNOMED codes can be mapped into DICOM images via the Structured Reporting Information Object).

HL7-This messaging system is used for most hospital information systems and now is infiltrating office-based clinical information systems as well. Both DICOM and SNOMED have a collaborative relationship with HL7 to integrate into the hospital/network databases.