The DICOM Standard pertains to the field of Medical Informatics. Within that field, it addresses the exchange of digital information between medical imaging equipment and other systems. Because such equipment may interoperate with other medical devices and information systems, the scope of this Standard needs to overlap with other areas of medical informatics. However, the DICOM Standard does not address the breadth of this field.

This Standard has been developed with an emphasis on diagnostic medical imaging as practiced in radiology, cardiology, pathology, dentistry, ophthalmology and related disciplines, and image-based therapies such as interventional radiology, radiotherapy and surgery. However, it is also applicable to a wide range of image and non-image related information exchanged in clinical, research, veterinary, and other medical environments.

This Standard facilitates interoperability of systems claiming conformance in a multi-vendor environment, but does not, by itself, guarantee interoperability.