Breast Cancer Early Detection Programme in the Basque Health Service (Osakidetza)

Breast cancer is the first cause of death between women in the Basque Autonomous Community. Every year an average of 900 new cases are detected. The Breast Cancer Early Detection Programme intends to face the high mortality this cancer causes.

The so called DPCM system supporting the medical appointments management, surveys and reports on mammograms, was originally developed and maintained by Bilbomática for the Basque Health Service (Osakidetza). The autonomic Health Service is now betting on the continuity of this solution and has decided to accomplish a technological revamp with views of satisfying the present needs.

The proposal Bilbomática introduces is based on a service oriented web, on a .NET platform and supported by FLEX for the display layer. Thanks to it, the problem of the software distribution is solved without damaging the performance of the offered functionalities.  

Along with technological evolution, the project introduces improvements in the following functionalities:

•    Integration with radiology images: The Basque Health Service is accomplishing a digitalisation project of radiology images. When dealing with patients, the radiologist will access the image directly; image which substitutes the original radiology plate, and which makes the DPCM System become an integral information station. The appliances for mammograms will receive from the DPCM System their work list with the identification of the contact person, speeding up the making of the radiography.
•    Exploitation of the information: the activity indicators require the system to register the necessary information. The generation of an exploitation oriented data model is also considered.
•    Integration with the Osakidetza patients’ data base.
•    Subunits management.
•    Access to radiological reports from the areas of specialized medicine and primary care.

The contact persons in the Basque Health Service are:

•    Garbiñe Sarriugarte: coordinator for the Breast Cancer Early Detection Programme.
•    Jose Luis Etxebarria & Alberto Sustacha: Informatics Subdirectorate. Central Organization.