VNA and PACS Could be the Answer
In today’s healthcare landscape one can’t address PACS problems without bringing up vendor
neutral archiving, or VNA. In order to reduce storage and migration expenditures, VNA is a good solution. Furthermore, VNA has begun to occupy the center of enterprise imaging operations.
There are various plug-ins being used by imaging departments as they work with VNA. The goal here is to be able to work with any file type on any workstation, removing the chains that come via proprietary systems. There are also applications related to the enterprise work list that consolidate medical imaging workflow and put them into a single view. These applications help to determine the most appropriate display configuration, giving providers a quick and accurate view of diagnostic imaging, helping to improve patient care.
Imaging departments can’t be shackled when it comes to how they view diagnostic images. They need to have a choice in what application they utilize to treat patients. Medical IT, at the same time, should have the ability to either own and manage the infrastructure and applications in-house, or let a third party, offsite vendor do the work.
Providers are also looking for solutions that offer integration with one or more electronic medical record system, which means better enterprise access to medical images and related content. This is information that should also be passed freely from one department to the next as well as one facility to another.
What is happening today when a PACS vendor also offers a VNA solution is that the information is in the control of the vendor. There is often the promise that the vendor will also manage images from other departments and/or facilities, but this is not always going to happen.
Another negative side effect of the vendor having control of the data is that there are costs associated with such control. For instance, any time the data has to be moved out of the PACS system, there could be a fee; changing the storage platform, adding modalities, integrating applications and adding an additional PACS also poses costs constraints.
If you’re looking to gain better control but don’t want to be stuck with a multitude of unforeseen fees, pick a vendor that offers scalable solutions without any hidden surcharges. Look for one that promises near 100 percent uptime of your data and a true VNA architecture that unlocks the potential for hurdle-free viewing of diagnostic images.
OffSite Image Management, Inc., is a vendor that knows the wants and needs of the medical community. Our solutions give providers with budget restrictions top-notch solutions that work across departments and across facilities. Contact us today for more information.