Generic domain reference (backlog E5.1).
Depth 1 — one line
The modality worklist is the list a scanner or other imaging device queries to find out what it’s supposed to be scanning next — if an order isn’t on it, the technologist can’t select it at the machine.
Depth 2 — how it works
RIS (or the interface engine on RIS’s behalf) publishes scheduled orders to a worklist the modality queries — typically the modality asks “what’s scheduled for me, right now” and gets back a list of pending exams with patient/order/accession identifiers attached. The technologist selects the correct entry at the console rather than typing patient details by hand, which is the whole point: MWL is what keeps images acquired at the modality correctly tagged with the right patient and accession number.
Depth 3 — failure modes
- Order scheduled in RIS, not appearing at the modality. The interface between RIS and the modality (often via the interface engine) is down, queuing, or filtering the order out — this is the textbook “RIS-to-PACS order interface” failure named throughout this plugin’s examples. Check whether other orders are reaching the same modality — if none are, it’s the interface or the modality’s worklist query itself; if only one order is missing, look at that order’s status in RIS first.
- Worklist entry present but wrong/stale patient data. Usually a sign the ADT (patient demographics) feed is stale or the order was scheduled before a late demographic correction — different root cause than a missing entry, even though both look like “MWL is wrong” to the reporting technologist.
- Technologist scans without selecting from worklist (“manual entry”). Produces an exam not properly linked to the original order/accession — a common downstream cause of “study performed, doesn’t match the order” tickets, and worth asking about directly when an order/exam mismatch is reported with no interface symptoms.
Ask which of these three shapes the ticket resembles before assuming an interface is down — only the first one actually is.