APPARATUS, METHOD AND COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM FOR SEARCHING PATIENT STUDIES

1 . An apparatus comprising a processor and a memory storing executable instructions that in response to execution by the processor cause the apparatus to at least:

receive a user query including a search term;

retrieve one or more synonyms of the search term;

query a search engine index based upon the user query and one or more synonyms, the search engine index being of a database of unstructured, free-text reports, wherein for each report the index includes an identifier of an image study associated with the respective report, and each image study is for a patient and includes respective patient information, and wherein the search engine index is queried to locate reports including any of the search term or one or more synonyms to thereby locate the identifiers of image studies associated with the respective located reports;

present to the user search results including the identifiers of image studies associated with the respective located reports, and including the patient information from the respective image studies;

sort or filter the search results based on the patient information to facilitate the user locating one or more image studies from the search results;

receive user selection of one or more image studies from the search results; and

retrieve the selected one or more image studies.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein for each report the index further includes attributes of the respective report, and

wherein the apparatus being caused to receive a user query includes being caused to receive a user query including a search term and one or more attributes.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein for each report the attributes include one or more of a status, classification or priority of the respective report.

4 . A method comprising:

receiving a user query including a search term;

retrieving one or more synonyms of the search term;

querying a search engine index based upon the user query and one or more synonyms, the search engine index being of a database of unstructured, free-text reports, wherein for each report the index includes an identifier of an image study associated with the respective report, and each image study is for a patient and includes respective patient information, and wherein the search engine index is queried to locate reports including any of the search term or one or more synonyms to thereby locate the identifiers of image studies associated with the respective located reports;

presenting to the user search results including the identifiers of image studies associated with the respective located reports, and including the patient information from the respective image studies;

sorting or filtering the search results based on the patient information to facilitate the user locating one or more image studies from the search results;

receiving user selection of one or more image studies from the search results; and

retrieving the selected one or more image studies,

wherein at least querying a search engine is performed by an apparatus including a processor and a memory storing executable instructions that in response to execution by the processor cause the apparatus to at least query the search engine.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein for each report the index further includes attributes of the respective report, and

wherein receiving a user query includes receiving a user query including a search term and one or more attributes.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein for each report the attributes include one or more of a status, classification or priority of the respective report.

7 . A computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein that, in response to execution by a processor, cause an apparatus to at least:

receive a user query including a search term;

retrieve one or more synonyms of the search term;

query a search engine index based upon the user query and one or more synonyms, the search engine index being of a database of unstructured, free-text reports, wherein for each report the index includes an identifier of an image study associated with the respective report, and each image study is for a patient and includes respective patient information, and wherein the search engine index is queried to locate reports including any of the search term or one or more synonyms to thereby locate the identifiers of image studies associated with the respective located reports;

present to the user search results including the identifiers of image studies associated with the respective located reports, and including the patient information from the respective image studies;

sort or filter the search results based on the patient information to facilitate the user locating one or more image studies from the search results;

receive user selection of one or more image studies from the search results; and

retrieve the selected one or more image studies.

8 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein for each report the index further includes attributes of the respective report, and

wherein the apparatus being caused to receive a user query includes being caused to receive a user query including a search term and one or more attributes.

9 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein for each report the attributes include one or more of a status, classification or priority of the respective report.