Bridging the GAP Between PACS and VNA
Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) were first used in the early
1980s, but didn’t really start becoming the norm for providing storage for medical images until the 1990s. More recently, VNA has become the catchword that everyone in medical IT industry is talking about. PACS and VNA can work together for comprehensive data storage and sharing capabilities.
Healthcare organizations want to focus on owning their medical content and gain some independence from the PACS application. Unfortunately, the definition of what true VNA is seems to differ from one organization to another, adding confusion to an already technical conversation. To some, the definition of what VNA is should be left up to the customer, but in most cases, healthcare professionals can agree that they want their VNA solution to assist them in sharing medical imaging.
VNA should also give providers a more efficient means of archiving and accessing data. PACS and VNA should work hand-in-hand to offer storage management capabilities. If you haven’t yet been connected with the advantages of a VNA solution, you should look for a vendor who offers a system that provides a standards-based solution that incorporates DICOM, XDS, and HL7. The vendor should also be able to prove they have an improved disaster recovery strategy. Furthermore, existing solutions should also be able to integrate to the VNA.
Some healthcare providers are talking about completely removing their existing PACS, which comes at a great expense and many hours of migrating data. However, PACS and VNA should work together to allow the existing system to retain some of or all of its functionality. VNA can work to sort through the proprietary issues that are roadblocks when it comes to sharing and accessing images.
Some hospitals have disparate technology in place that is so proprietary that they can’t communicate from department to department. Instead of getting seamless image storage and archiving capabilities, they are stifled. PACS and VNA working together will store and retrieve data from any PACS vendor and transparently migrate data between platforms.
Your new VNA will allow you to store the complete suite of DICOM SOP classes, store objects in non-proprietary format, support the most inclusive DICOM query/retrieve specifications, offer context management and handle ADT updates to the image files that are stored in the archive.
What we’re learning now is that there is a big difference between a central PACS archive, which aggregates images from a vendor’s PACS, and a true VNA. Regardless of how efficient your current PACS is, there are things it can’t do, like share images with other departments or with other specialists in remote areas. VNA is fast becoming the method through which PACS limitations are overcome.
The professionals at OffSite Image Management, Inc. have spearheaded a movement with true VNA solutions that lead the industry. Our professionals offer clients the kind of functionality they’ve been missing out on for too long. Contact us today and get better acquainted with our technology.