System and method for the automatic generation of a query to a dicom server

A system for automatically generating a query to a Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) server computer, said system comprising:

• a non-transitory encoded medium including encoded patient identification information of a patient;
• a reading device configured to read said patient identification information encoded in said non-transitory encoded medium;
• a personal computer hosting a medical software application, said personal computer operationally interfacing to said reading device to receive said read patient identification information from said reading device and to automatically generate a DICOM query, using said medical software application, such that said DICOM query includes at least a portion of said patient identification information;
• and
• at least one DICOM server computer operationally interfacing to said personal computer to receive said DICOM query from said personal computer.

A method to automatically generate a query to a Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) server computer, said method comprising:

• reading patient identification information using a reading device, wherein said patient identification information is encoded on a non-transitory medium;
• automatically forwarding said read patient identification information from said reading device to a medical software application on a personal computer;
• and
• initiating a DICOM query operation to search at least one DICOM server computer for information related to a patient associated with said patient identification information, based at least on a portion of said patient identification information, using said medical software application.