Study: PACS utilization on the rise

An increasing number of radiology imaging sites are implementing PACS and related PACS technology, according to a new report from market research firm IMV Limited.

The survey found that nearly 40 percent of the radiology imaging sites surveyed use no film for primary diagnosis for at least some modalities, while 7 percent report they are 100 percent filmless in the operations.

"An estimated 28 percent of the imaging procedures performed by the 3,000 sites covered in our study use no film for primary diagnosis," said Lorna Young, senior director of IMV market research. "This is more than triple the rate of 8 percent of procedures performed in 1998."

IMV's PACS database profiles 2,311 sites, which comprise approximately 80 percent of the 2,932 facilities in the United States in IMV's target of all hospitals with 200 beds or more, hospitals with 100-199 beds and imaging centers with high imaging volumes.

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