Modality worklist

How studies reach the scanner, and what an empty worklist actually means.

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.

Depth 2 — how it works

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.