If you’re working on developing an enterprise imaging strategy, you’re not alone. Many providers are in the same boat, looking at PACS and VNA, attempting to figure out how they can get their images to the people who need to see them, safely, securely and without delay.
You’ve probably stumbled across solutions by GE and Philips, which are two of the heavyweight vendors in the PACS space at the moment. Clients of these vendors have joined up for the methods related to PACS enterprise archive centric strategies. An enterprise archive refers to a long-term storage solution that is capable of managing
and studying data from multiple imaging departments. Rather than deploying individual archives, each is dedicated to an associated PACS.
When it comes to more VNA-centric solutions, Agfa and Merge are two of the most often talked about vendors. Clients of Agfa use the IMPAX Data Center which has as of yet provided only a smattering of success as a PACS experience. Merge clients are waiting on vendors to offer more integration to the solution, particularly with the iConnect platform.
If you’re interested in non-PACS systems, but are intrigued by the VNA solution, you’re going to hear of vendors like TeraMedica and Acuo. Image distribution and data migration are increasingly important to providers, which is why they’ve gravitated toward Acuo’s solution.
No matter how big or small your facility is or how many patients you have contact with, you need to make image storage a necessity because physicians require unfettered access to them. Access, especially with transfer patients or emergency situations, is lacking in many situations where the patient’s home facility isn’t using modern, up-to-date solutions. Many of these new solutions are SaaS, which means they’re available through the cloud. Cloud-based solutions only need a secure URL to offer the kind of access to medical imaging and data that they’ve been sorely missing for too long.
Rural facilities are often the ones left out when it comes to the latest and greatest solutions, either because you lack the resources to pay for the solution, or you lack the resources related to personnel that is trained to implement these solutions.
Not all vendors are pricing out their prospective customers. Some are offering a pay-as-you-go model that works well for even the most rural and resource-lacking providers. PACS and VNA decisions are important to think about because there are many vendors offering what they say is true VNA when in fact it fails to pass the test.
You can ask yourself a few questions going in to make sure the vendor is giving you true VNA: Will it store all objects in a non-proprietary format understood by the community at large, ie., DICOM part 102? Does it provide context management – the ability to manipulate DICOM tags?
At OffSite Image Management, Inc., we provide true VNA that will pass any test. Furthermore, we’re looking out for rural providers to make sure you get the solutions you need at an excellent rate. Contact us today for more information.