PACS

Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) have replaced conventional radiographic films as the digital image-viewing hub over the past two decades and now serve as the primary communication bridge between radiologists, radiologic technologists and referring providers. PACS enables all authorized clinicians to access medical images and reports quickly, easily and from virtually any location. Some health systems have integrated PACS into the electronic medical record (EMR). Others have moved to enterprise image systems to replace radiology PACS and allow all departments to now store images and reports in one location for easier health system-wide access.

Have RIS/PACS, Will Travel

Sponsored by FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas

For over thirty years, Radiation Physics Inc (Beltsville, Maryland) has been providing mobile imaging services to the Baltimore and Washington, DC, metropolitan areas, serving long-term–care and assisted-living clients, as well as prisons and private residences. “We started doing this in 1976, and the business model has been pretty much the same

Academic PACS: It’s Not Elementary, Watson

Sponsored by FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas

In the late 1990s, Yale School of Medicine, New haven, Connecticut, implemented its first PACS. James Brink, MD, chair of the department of radiology and professor of diagnostic radiology, recalls how radiologists initially adapted to the brave new digital world: “It took some of the more senior radiologists a while to get used to using a cine

Toward True Globalization: The Air Force and PACS

Sponsored by FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas

Sharing images across any health care enterprise represents a challenge, but doing so across the Pacific Rim was the dilemma faced in 2003 by the US Air Force. Taking up this challenge were Lt Col Grant Tibbetts, MD, now radiology consultant to the surgeon general, and Tom Lewis, the director of the Air Force PACS Office. “The largest hospital in

PACS Nirvana: University Radiology's Reporting-driven Workflow

Sponsored by FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas

Ever since digital imaging liberated radiologists from the site of image acquisition, radiology practices have labored to patch together distributed reading solutions that would efficiently meet the needs of multiple clients, balance workflow, and enable subspecialization.

Say Aloha to Your PACS: The Selection Process

When Hawaii Health Systems Corp (HHSC), Honolulu, began shopping for a PACS solution for three of its five island regions, newly hired CIO Money Atwal had a few unique issues to take into consideration. Though multisite PACS configurations are increasingly commonplace, most don’t have to cross water in order to work. Atwal needed a solution that

In the Navy: The DoD and the Future of PACS

Sponsored by FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas

The US Navy deployed its first PACS—a military-specified system with limited functionality—in 1996. Since then, the Navy has operated multiple PACS from a variety of vendors, all selected through a contracting process monitored by the US Department of Defense (DoD). “Our purchasing process enables us always to select the best of breed,” Edwin Doorn

PACS/RIS Replacement: Cheating the Big Bang

Replacing technology is always nerve-wracking, but it is particularly volatile when the systems being replaced are a PACS and a RIS, systems at the heart of daily function for radiology departments and hospitals.

Avoiding Nightmare PACS Outages

Preparation is the difference between unexpected PACS downtime and a nightmare, Michael D. Toland told his audience in Seattle on May 17 at the 2008 annual meeting of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine. Toland, who is PACS administrative team manager for the University of Maryland Medical System, Baltimore, presented PACS Worst Case

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