PACS possibilities continue to expand
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The technical exhibit halls of McCormick Place and Lakeside Center at this year’s Radiological Society of North America’s 94th annual scientific sessions played host to a range of enterprise-capable imaging informatics systems ready for deployment for a variety of clinical imaging specialties.
For the past few years, healthcare informatics pundits have argued that PACS in the clinical enterprise is becoming something of a commodity application. Although the “wow” factor has diminished from its large-scale commercial introduction a little more than a decade ago, PACS continues to evolve as the centerpiece product across the diagnostic imaging spectrum.
From single-physician practices to multi-national integrated care delivery networks, leading-edge PACS products are at the heart of digital diagnostic imaging. In addition, the melding of PACS with other clinical informatics systems, such as electronic medical records and practice management applications, has demonstrated the ongoing integration of these systems in the healthcare enterprise.
Clinical reporting systems and PACS have become fundamental healthcare delivery system infrastructures for imaging data interpretation and reporting. Although radiology is still the central focus of these applications, the success of PACS within this specialty has opened new vistas for the deployment of these critical systems.
In other news, be sure to stop by our ongoing RSNA 360 feature. You’ll find staff reviews of some of the significant vendors and their products that were on display at the 2008 RSNA.
Also, if you’re looking to bolster the PACS capabilities of your practice in the coming year, please stop by our Healthcare Tech Guide. We have listings for vendors, systems, services and white papers for a variety of products spanning the healthcare environment.
In closing, if you have a comment or report to share about PACS in your practice, please contact me at the address below. I look forward to hearing from you.
Jonathan Batchelor, Web Editor
jbatchelor@trimedmedia.com