Image Availability and Viewing Options

Lahey's Picture Archiving and Communications Systems, also known as PACS, is just one way we dramatically enhance patient care. With PACS, digital X-ray images are captured and stored electronically and can be shared immediately with anyone at any Lahey location.

This advanced technology offers both you and your physician immediate access to radiological exam images. You no longer have to wait to have copies of your films made. We offer safe and secure Web access for your physician through Lahey’s network. Your privacy is ensured.

If your physician prefers, the digital images from your study can also be written to a CD-ROM, giving him or her a permanent record that can be accessed easily and quickly via a computer. CDs hold multiple studies and take up significantly less space than the traditional film in the brown envelope. Notice of at least 24 hours is requested to create this digital record for you.

These digital images offer your physician the ability to adjust your images in ways not possible with traditional X-ray film. Using the computer, the image can be made lighter or darker or zoomed for better visualization of a particular portion, for example. Your physician can fine-tune the images to accommodate his or her preferences.

Traditional film copies of your exam images are also still available with 24-hour notice.

Obtaining Copies of Your Images

To receive a CD or film copies of exam images, please follow these steps:

Call 781-744-3208. Please provide your name, Lahey medical record number and/or date of birth, along with the study being requested. With 48 hours' notice, we can either create a CD-ROM with the requested images on it or print the appropriate films for you.

When you arrive to pick up your images, you will be presented with an authorization form to fill out. This form gives Lahey Clinic permission to release your images. If you are sending someone in to pick up the images for you, they will need to bring the authorization form filled out by you, and a signed, written authorization from you giving him/her permission to pick up your images for you. You may print out a copy of the form and fill it out in advance. If you would like your images mailed to you or to another facility, you may print out a copy of the form, fill it out in advance and fax it to 781-744-5363 or mail it to:

IMAGE MANAGEMENT CENTER
Lahey Clinic
Radiology Department
29 Mall Road
Burlington, MA 01805

Images can be picked up in Medical Records (Health Information Management), not Radiology, between 8 am and 5 pm, Monday through Friday, on 1West in the main Lahey Clinic building at 41 Mall Rd. To protect your privacy, you may need to show a picture ID, so please be sure to bring one with you when you pick up your CD/films. If anyone else is picking up your CD/films for you, please be sure that this person has a written authorization signed by you for us to release your studies to them.

If you would like us to send a copy of your study to a physician or facility outside Lahey, we will need the authorization form from you indicating the study you would like sent and the receiving doctor's name and address. You can fax us that authorization form or send a signed letter to the fax number or address listed above. Please allow us plenty of time to send your images as they are sent via UPS. Generally, it can take up to three to five business days for your doctor to receive them.

 

Are There Any Costs?

Currently, the first CD of your images is provided at no cost. Any subsequent CDs cost $5 each.

For hard-copy films, the current charge is $8 per sheet. Some studies include multiple sheets. The CD is by far the most convenient and economical way to transport your images.

Mammography images are provided free of charge.