Physician-author explores the downside of PACS

The rapid adoption of PACS allowed the medical industry to watch the first specialty digitize before our eyes: radiology. While the economic and clinical benefits are substantiated and accepted by nearly all, Bob Wachter focuses on how they've affected the place of the radiologist within the care center. 

When PACS came roaring onto the scene, the radiology department lost the centralization of imaging. Once the radiology department no longer housed the films, in-person consultation rates with radiologists dropped precipitously. In addition, the move to bundled payments may unseat their typically stable position in the payment model.

“If the world moves to bundled payments, we won’t do well,” said Ron Arenson, MD, Chairman of the Department of Radiology at the University of California, “We’re not very high in the pecking order."

Read more about the unintended consequences of the PACS below.