The Advantages of Hosted Cloud PACS
Healthcare providers today are doing everything they can to control costs while improving their level of care. For radiologists and IT departments, these two objectives can prove difficult to exact simultaneously. However, hosted cloud PACS have been in the conversation for years as a possible solution. Have the solutions offered through the cloud measured up to the hype?
PACS solutions have evolved greatly since they were first introduced in 1982. However, the evolution and adoption of PACS have recently skyrocketed. The growth market value in 2009 was $679.4 million, but is expected to jump to $1.35 billion by 2016. Perhaps part of that growth is related to the software as a service (SaaS) model that many PACS vendors are aiming for today.
When it comes to cost, providers are focusing heavily on hosted cloud PACS due to the savings inherent to this model. Instead of sinking a great deal of money into the physical hardware, implementation, upkeep and upgrades, providers can leave all the heavy lifting up to the vendor. This takes the pressure off their budget and a lot of pressure off the in-house IT department.
There is also the quality of care aspect to consider with the hosted cloud PACS model. Image availability factors heavily into this issue. For instance, when a provider operates under an on-premise solution, should any natural or manmade disaster occur, all the data stored within that facility will be compromised, which means physicians won’t have access to the medical images they need to assist a patient. When using a hosted cloud PACS solution, providers have near 100 percent access to all their data thanks to the business continuity safeguards that are common with cloud-based vendors.
Given the cost savings and the improved availability of highly important medical images, the predictions made years ago about hosted cloud PACS are proving to be correct – they are offering a great deal of value to providers who adopt cloud-based solutions.
So, what are cloud PACS replacing? Providers that have migrated their information to the cloud can tell you that they were able to step away from CD burning, which when initially launched years ago seemed like a major step up from storing film-based medical images. However, after years of dealing with improperly burned CDs, which sometimes caused patients to go through another battery of exams, the cloud-based solution was much welcomed. Furthermore, CDs were frequently lost or broken, also causing delays in patient care and ran the risk of HIPAA violations.
OffSite Image Management, Inc., is leading the charge in bringing healthcare providers into a new era of fast, economic and reliable management of medical images. Our industry-leading solutions are fairly priced, giving even the most rural and budget-limited clients access to top-notch healthcare imaging solutions. For more information about how we can assist you, contact us today.