Radiology PACS of the Future
Radiology PACS 3.0 and vendor neutral archiving (VNA) have been hot topics for some time now, especially PACS 3.0, but they are both coming into their own. However, these two aren’t pitted against each other. In fact, PACS 3.0 and VNA will work together to provide healthcare professionals with a number of advantages.
One way to look at the PACS 3.0 revolution is that it is simply a workflow/work list application that is built around the VNA platform. This application then can be considered the nucleus of the up and coming PACS 3.0 movement, which will bring interoperability with electronic health records that are used by the imaging department’s parent organization.
Some industry experts are saying that VNA will join forces with other technologies, such as advanced image visualization and workflow applications, giving radiologists and other specialists the ability to devise their own version of PACS 3.0. There is also a prevailing belief that the growth of such technologies will outpace radiology information systems, which will eventually be taken over by various radiology IT applications related to electronic health records technology.
While the technological components of this new outlook on radiology PACS will take some time for all healthcare facilities to implement, it should be hastened by the fact that such technology can save money, mostly related to not having to migrate data, which is historically painstakingly drawn out and expensive.
There are currently more than 300 vendors across the U.S. offering vendor neutral archive solutions, allowing healthcare providers to unlock the barriers placed on them by vendors who for years relied on proprietary technology to tie up their customers. Instead, PACS 3.0 is giving these professionals ownership of their own data without having to worry about maintenance and upgrades.
The best vendors offering radiology PACS services are going to the cloud, bringing to light a high degree of accessibility, zero maintenance, and ultimate control of medical imaging. Instead of jumping through virtual hoops to gain access to images, it’s available through a cloud-based service that gives facilities the prospect of scalability.
Healthcare professionals, including radiology personnel, are looking for technology that allows them to store the complete suite of DICOM SOP classes, store objects in a non-proprietary format, supports the most inclusive DICOM query/retrieve specifications, and provide context management. The best vendors are putting their VNA solutions to work to offer just that.
Providers are also looking for a vendor that can grant them access to their medical imaging data at any time, any day without interruption. They don’t want to be held to storage limits, yet they also don’t want to pay for more than what they need. They don’t want to pay startup fees or see their finances drained by costly migration fees.
OffSite Image Management, Inc. is offering clients a 360-degree solution that provides a flexible solution to medical imaging. Disaster recovery, business continuity, cost savings and reliability are all part of the package with OffSite’s industry-leading cloud-based solutions, which rely heavily on VNA. Contact us today and let’s discuss the needs of your organization.