ROCHESTER, N.Y., , Aug. 8 — Carestream Health introduced new MR Brain Perfusion and MR Brain Diffusion modules that enable radiologists to read these imaging studies from a CARESTREAM Vue PACS diagnostic viewer (see video link). The company has received FDA 510(k) Clearance for use in the United States, and these new tools also have been approved for use in Europe and other countries across the globe.

Communication with referring physicians is essential in radiology, but it often becomes stressful and frustrating for radiologists when they struggle to track down the right person. This can lead to workflow delays that chip away at various quality metrics and have a negative impact on patient care. In a recent case study published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology, Eduardo J. Matta, MD, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and colleagues worked to improve communication between radiologists and referring physicians by implementing a new, PACS-based software solution.

A group of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital cut the incidence of delayed image delivery to PACS by two-thirds by using an automated system that alerted managers when the time-to-PACS (TTP) had exceeded a certain threshold. The internally developed web application—called Tempus Fugit—demonstrates the potency of targeted workflow intervention in an imaging department.

The IT team at Western Reserve Hospital, a 105-bed, physician-owned institution in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, already had considerable experience with remotely hosted solutions. In 2015, the time came to consider a remote option for its new PACS. 

While helping to steer 105-bed Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, toward a remotely hosted PACS solution, Jeffrey Unger, MD, repeatedly voiced one crucial concern: Would he and his fellow radiologists have to wait at their workstations, precious seconds ticking away, while PACS servers sitting hundreds of miles away processed massive datasets?

There is no doubt that vendor neutral archives (VNAs) have gained favor over the last several years in managing medical images. But there is some debate over whether hospitals really need both a VNA and a PACS. If PACS can do double duty as VNA and PACS, why do you need both? As we see it, you don’t, as long as you have a true enterprise PACS and here’s why.

In an effort to further its commitment to healthcare, IntellaPACS, a leading provider of cloud-based PACS software, has changed its corporate name to Emergent Connect.

Nearly two decades ago, the PACS race was on in Southern California’s Inland Empire. The main event pitted the regional medical center, 439-bed Riverside County Regional Medical Center, against the larger 719-bed Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC). In 1998, Riverside won the race by about six months, installing the first PACS in the region and, in the process, becoming the first hospital in the U.S. to select Sectra PACS.