Top performing PACS companies based on user feedback
Agfa and Sectra both performed well with end-user satisfaction scores in the annual KLAS Research 2025 list of the best radiology vendors for the picture archiving and communication system (PACS) categories, released Wednesday.
The Best in KLAS rankings are based on end-user feed back to surveys and interviews conducted by KLAS. It offers a real-world review of technology performance and the relationship the vendors have with hospitals. The health IT products are then ranked on a 100-point scale.
Agfa was among only a few companies recognized by KLAS as “most improved” this year, because its software and service offerings saw the highest percentage increase in scores from the previous year’s Best in KLAS report.
"Noting improvements on multiple fronts, customers of Agfa HealthCare Enterprise Imaging VNA have seen a 17% increase in satisfaction since last year’s Best in KLAS report. The most significant improvements include more consistent product development, smoother upgrades, fewer bugs, and more engaged and available support resources. Customers feel Agfa has recommitted to helping them be successful," KLAS wrote in its 2025 report.
KLAS quoted a PACS administrator who spoke about the noticeable improvement from previous years. “Agfa HealthCare has really stepped up overall in their partnership and the way they work with us. Our last upgrade was flawless, and we did not miss a beat. In the past, upgrades were tough and nobody on our end wanted to take an update. Agfa HealthCare is not the same today, things are well run and organized. The support has really improved, and the quality of the people is high," he wrote.
Sectra PACS has dominated the KLAS rankings for 12 consecutive years. This year, Sectra took Best in KLAS for eight categories in the U.S., Canadian, Northern Europe and Southern Europe reports for its enterprise imaging modules for radiology and digital pathology.
“With Sectra PACS, there was an immediate improvement in our return on investment and efficiency. We even improved things like the amount of time it takes to process the studies from the hardware vendors. There are so many little things. The vendor has a great dashboard to show how things have improved. Sectra PACS is a quantum leap above other PACS products, and everyone else needs to catch up,” a U.S. physician commented to KLAS Research.
What do hospitals think off their PACS vendors?
Here are the rankings and scores for several PACS categories KLAS reviewed:
PACS: Large with more than 300,000 studies:
1. Sectra PACS 91
2. Agfa Healthcare Enterprise Imaging 87.2
3. Fujifilm 84.9
4. Merge by Merative 82.8
5. Optum Radiology Solutions 72.6
6. GE Healthcare Centricity 63.1
7. Intelerad 58.7
Sectra users said 100% would buy the technology again. All users for both Sectra and Merge said the vendors are part of their long-term plans.
PACS: Small with less than 300,000 studies:
1. Sectra PACS 93
2. Agfa Healthcare Enterprise Imaging 90.3
3. Infinitt 88.8
4. Fujifilm 83.8
5. Merge by Merative 83.3
6. Optum Radiology Solutions 71.2
7. GE Healthcare Centricity 70.8
8. Philips 63.9
Konica Minolta's Exa PACS was not ranked because of limited data, but information was included in the report showing users ranked the company with 77.6 points, higher than several of the bigger vendors.
Agfa was the only company where 95% of the respondents said they do not charge for every little thing. Agfa also scored 100% for keeping all of its promises. Sectra scored 96%.
All Sectra users said the vendor is both part of their long-term plans and they would buy the PACS again. Agfa had 95% of its users say they are included in long-term plans and they would buy again.
Image Exchange:
1. Nuance 91.1
2. Intelerad 73.7
Universal Image Viewer:
1. Agfa 88.4
2. Visage Imaging 87.9
3. Merge 86.5
Vendor Neutral Archive (VNA):
1. Agfa 86.9
2. Fujifilm 86.8
3. Merge 84.2
Sectra VNA achieved a high 93.8 score, but was not ranked by KLAS because there was not enough data from the small number of respondents that use the system.
Radiology IT market trends identified by KLAS
In its imaging market overview, KLAS said artificial intelligence is gaining traction in the market and that broader, deeper adoption is on horizon. AI for acute care team notification alerts triggered by CT scanner images before the datasets even reach the PACS offered by RapidAI and Viz.ai are the most adopted AI listed by radiology respondents. Nuance's AI platform also has strong consideration among imaging IT teams.
Insights about cloud adoption in imaging include customers having high confidence in Sectra and that Agfa users had confidence in the vendor's approach to cloud.
In the KLAS public cloud category, Amazon AWS scored the highest mark with 92.5. Microsoft Azure came in at 83.9. However, users of both services reported success and said they would buy the services again in the future. AWS customers said the technology, speed and support drove strong satisfaction. Microsoft Azure customers appreciate the platform, but there were inconsistent support and relationships that impacted overall satisfaction, KLAS wrote.
Find all the top health IT software companies named in the report
Dave Fornell has covered healthcare for more than 17 years, with a focus in cardiology and radiology. Fornell is a 5-time winner of a Jesse H. Neal Award, the most prestigious editorial honors in the field of specialized journalism. The wins included best technical content, best use of social media and best COVID-19 coverage. Fornell was also a three-time Neal finalist for best range of work by a single author. He produces more than 100 editorial videos each year, most of them interviews with key opinion leaders in medicine. He also writes technical articles, covers key trends, conducts video hospital site visits, and is very involved with social media. E-mail: dfornell@innovatehealthcare.com