Picture archiving faces integration issues
 

Meaningful use of IT will certainly include tight integration of all systems in play. And for picture archiving and communciation systems, integration is what it’s all about. Nadim Daher, senior industry analyst for healthcare medical imaging at Frost and Sullivan, says providers specifically want integration between PACS and radiology information systems (RIS) because of the efficiencies the integration affords. Vendors are taking steps toward greater integration with RIS as a result. “Some vendors have developed RIS functions in-house and are tying it into their PACS, and these are the only vendors who would be able to provide what is referred to as a single database RIS/PACS where the two systems are linked from the ground up, so it’s a native system that does both,” Daher said. “Other vendors have have to work out integration at higher levels.”
 

Three Trends to Watch

Nadim Daher, senior industry analyst for healthcare medical imaging at Frost & Sullivan, sees these trends affecting the PACS market in 2010:

1. RIS INTEGRATION: RIS and PACS will be increasingly used as a single unit. For smaller organizations that don’t have PACS and are first-generation users, “it’s sort of a no-brainer to go with (integrated) RIS/PACS today,” said Daher.

2. MULTISITE INSTALLATIONS: “Enterprise PACS” can mean picture archiving used throughout the hospital enterprise, or it can mean an enterprise of users of a single system, sharing images across multiple sites. In the ambulatory space, the imaging center may be linked to a hospital and is almost exclusively providing images for that hospital. “Having a network that spans the main hospital with its affiliated centers is now one of the most common configurations of multi-site PACS,” Daher said.

3. SMALL-SCALE BUYS: Some PACS vendors are targeting the smaller, stand-alone organizations within the healthcare market and seeing good traction. Likewise, smaller stand-alone facilities look for the vendors that fit their size. “The big PACS vendors are not yet looking at these segments because they are probably seeing less dollar value and profit margins,” Daher said.

PACS VENDORS GET THE PICTURE

AGFA
IMPAX RIS/PACS/Reporting
IMPAX 6 turns information into knowledge, enabling organizations to achieve higher levels of patient care and greater financial and operational efficiency. Centrally deployed and managed, IMPAX delivers integrated RIS/PACS/Reporting on a single desktop, decreasing hardware/maintenance costs and maximizing workflow efficiency. Flexible personas and automated workflow tools streamline tasks. Agfa HealthCare’s IMPAX RIS/PACS/Reporting is fully integrated, providing extensive information access on a single desktop and the ability to multiple and previous studies simultaneously.
Contact: salesinfo@agfa.com.

AMICAS
AMICAS PACS
AMICAS PACS Version 6.0 includes an enhanced viewing environment composed of the Patient Record, which provides a comprehensive view into patients’ imaging history, and the Halo Viewer – both of which complement the existing industry-leading RealTime Worklist.
Contact: Sales, 800.490.8465, sales@amicas.com.

CARESTREAM HEALTH
Carestream PACS
Carestream Health has demonstrated future upgrades to its latest PACS platform as a WIP, including new reporting capabilities to enhance radiologist productivity as they perform cross-site reading through a unified global worklist. Key images, measurements and other content can be input into the report with a single click or through voice commands. An easy-to-use display interface will associate imported DICOM and non-DICOM data into an existing patient portfolio.
Contact: Maile Chaffin-Quiray at mailec@ccspr.com.

FUJIFILM MEDICAL SYSTEMS USA
Synapse PACS
Fujifilm’s Synapse PACS offers an integrated, Web-based radiology, cardiovascular and mammography solution for facilities of any size. It’s also a complete enterprise archive for all imaging types, and provides 3D capabilities and other advanced visualization tools integrated into the diagnostic process.
Contact: 800.431.1850, info@fujimed.com.

MCKESSON
Horizon Medical Imaging
McKesson’s Horizon Medical Imaging RIS/PACS is an image and information management solution that enables hospitals and clinics to acquire, distribute and archive medical images and diagnostic reports across the enterprise. Reported benefits from using the solution include improved clinical decision-making, steamlined workflow, enhanced efficiency and reduced costs.
Contact: www.allaboutpacs.com.

MERGE HEALTHCARE
Fusion Workstation
Merge Healthcare’s Fusion Workstation (version 3.0) boasts a robust 64-bit-compatible platform that significantly reduces image load times and better study manipulation, while providing better large study performance in both 32- and 64-bit architectures. Its robust, smart client platform, combined with a highly adaptable interface and dynamic built-in applications (including PowerScribe), delivers the stability a PACS administrator expects and the performance a radiologist demands. Key features include capability to distribute radiology workloads via a fully customizable enterprise worklist, ready availability to pertinent data and prior images via the digital Patient Master Jacket, and optimized workflow via functionality to handle up to two concurrent interrupt sessions. Merge offers a hosted PACS option with a cost-effective, pay-per-study pricing modely.
Contact: Bill Wolff, 414.977.4899, bwolff@merge.com.