Can there be any doubt that in order to break down the barriers to better image archiving practices, there needs to
be a focus on PACS vendor neutral archive systems? Providers that have long been stymied by the vendor specific archiving systems are finally finding the solutions they’ve needed, not only for better archiving, but also for a more trouble-free method of sharing images.
Archiving, which involves the long-term storage of medical data within a PACS, has been one of the sole responsibilities for the PACS technology since its inception many years ago. However, as more patients seek care from multiple providers, it has become of paramount importance to make sure those images can be transferred from one PACS to another, which is why PACS vendor neutral archive systems are becoming more popular today.
The neutrality aspects of emerging technology are important, both in terms of PACS neutrality and storage media neutrality. There is some disagreement about what true neutrality actually is. When you’ve got a truly vendor neutral solution, you have the ability to choose a storage vendor during the initial setup and during any expansion or replacement within your system.
As for PACS neutrality, this means any user could work with Enterprise DICOM Archive subsystems and multiple PACS. The neutrality of aspect of this means that when you’re armed with a solution such as this, you can facilitate exchanging data between PACS, regardless of what type they are.
In many cases, the problem between one facility to the next is that the PACS isn’t totally DICOM-conformant, which is why communication between disparate systems is often an issue – an issue that a PACS vendor neutral archive system is built to handle.
Another challenge facing hospitals and their PACS is the differing image types that they have to deal with. Not only do they deal with DICOM images, including CTs, MRIs, X-ray, etc., but they also need access to non-DICOM images through the same methods that other images are coming in. Today’s provider needs to be able to access PDFs, JPEGS and several other image types to give their best quality care to patients, which is another aspect of vendor neutral archiving that is turning heads.
The first PACS were built more than two decades ago. Technology has changed many times since then and more is expected of PACS today. Originally, PACS could only handle a single type of workflow. Accessing medical information today should be as easy as other forms of communication have become, thanks to technological advancements. Fortunately, there are vendors working to make the ease of communication something that can be expected rather than yearned after.
OffSite Image Management, Inc. has offered PVNA (PACS vendor neutral archiving) solutions that are built with interoperability in mind. The solution also offers flexibility that providers need as well as the redundancies that ensure constant availability of data while providing DICOM standards that are a definite requisite today. For more information about how we do it, contact us today.