DICOM Modality Worklist (MWL) for Radiology
Modality Worklist is the DICOM service that sends the day's scheduled examinations to the modality. The technologist picks the patient from a list instead of typing a name and ID at the console, so every study arrives in the PACS with the correct demographics and accession number and matches its order and report automatically. EMSL's MWL server is part of its PACS and RIS, and it runs with the modalities of hospitals and diagnostic centres across Bangladesh.
What the MWL platform does
- ◆MWL SCP (C-FIND on the Modality Worklist information model) for any DICOM-conformant modality
- ◆Scheduled procedure steps generated from RIS or HIS orders and appointments in real time
- ◆Patient name, ID, date of birth, sex, accession number, requested procedure and scheduled station in every entry
- ◆Per-modality filtering by station AE title, modality type and date, so each unit sees only its own list
- ◆Walk-in and emergency patients appear on the worklist the moment they are registered
- ◆Works with a third-party RIS or HIS through HL7 orders when EMSL supplies only the imaging side
- ◆Log of every worklist query per modality for troubleshooting
No more mismatched studies
When the modality takes the accession number from the worklist, the study, the order and the report link automatically. Manual entry is where wrong-patient and unmatched studies come from.
Any modality, any vendor
Modality Worklist is a standard DICOM service. CT, MRI, CR, DR, ultrasound and mammography units from any manufacturer query the same server.
Faster patient throughput
Technologists select instead of type, so examinations start sooner and the console shows the right procedure for each patient.
Configured with your modality vendor
EMSL's engineers register AE titles, addresses and ports on both sides with the vendor's service team and verify the worklist on the console before go-live.
MWL in detail
How Modality Worklist works
The RIS or HIS creates an order and an appointment. EMSL's MWL server turns it into a scheduled procedure step: patient identity, accession number, requested procedure, modality type and the station that should perform it. When the technologist presses the worklist button on the console, the modality sends a DICOM C-FIND query to the server, typically filtered to its own AE title and today's date, and receives the matching entries. The technologist selects the patient, the modality copies the demographics and accession number into the study, and the images later sent to the PACS carry them. The RIS sees the study arrive, matches it to the order by accession number, and moves it to the reading worklist.
Configuring a modality for MWL
On the server, the modality is registered with its AE title, IP address and port. On the modality, the worklist server is registered the same way, usually under a service menu, and the query filter is set — most sites filter on the modality's own station AE title and the current date. A test query from the console confirms the connection. EMSL's engineers do this together with the modality vendor's service team during installation.
Common problems and how they are fixed
An empty worklist almost always means a filter mismatch: the station AE title configured on the modality differs from the one in the order, or the modality's clock is on the wrong date. A wrong patient chosen at the console is corrected in the RIS, which re-links the study to the right order without re-scanning. A modality that cannot reach the server at all is a network or firewall question, and the server's query log shows whether the request arrived.
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