DOCTORS HOSPITAL’S NEW PICTURE ARCHIVING AND COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM (PACS) ALLOWS FASTER DELIVERY OF MEDICAL IMAGES

_____________________________________________________________________

Doctors Hospital is excited to announce the acquisition of a most technologically advanced patient care equipment film-less picture archiving communication system or PACS.  Picture Archiving and Communications System, more commonly known as PACS, enables images such as x-rays and scans to be stored electronically and viewed on screens, so that doctors and other health professionals can access the information and compare it with previous images at the touch of a button from any computer with internet access; a reality that has physicians extremely excited.  By delivering more efficient imaging processes, the PACS system will contribute to the delivery of seamless integrated service within the hospital.

For the past 100 years, film has been almost the exclusive medium for capturing, storing, and displaying radiographic images. Film is a relatively fixed medium with usually only one set of images available. PACS technology allows for a near filmless process, with all of the flexibility of digital systems. In storing, exchanging, retrieving and managing of medical images over a network, it also removes all the costs associated with hard film and releases valuable space currently used for storage. Most importantly, however, PACS has the potential to transform patients' experience of the care they receive.  Patient diagnostic images can be accessed by health care professionals at any time of day from anywhere with a connection to the PACS network.

The new system will be fully integrated into the facility and used with all imaging modalities including standard x-rays, CT, MRI, Ultrasound, angiography, fluoroscopy, and Nuclear Medicine. The benefits of a PACS system are multifold; report turnaround time is reduced and patient care is improved, as physicians will no longer need to wait for film images to be processed and then analyzed and/or delivered. These benefits will be monumental for the hospital’s Operating Room and Emergency Room cases, where immediate decisions are critical. PACS will support clinicians in performing their roles and will contribute to a more efficient and advanced twenty first century health service. 

PACS will enable Doctors Hospital clinicians to always be able to access the right image in the right place at the right time to support an efficient, high quality and well communicated diagnosis.  Digital imaging will allow faster delivery of medical images to the clinicians that evaluate and report on them.  This can lead to speedier availability of results.  It will also enable flexible viewing with the ability to manipulate images on screen, enlarging, rotating and viewing images in 3D, which means patients can be diagnosed more effectively.  Referring physicians, Doctors Hospital Physicians and healthcare professionals will have instant access to historic images and patient records allowing better collaboration over diagnoses. 

Prior to using PACS, processing images for diagnosis for the hospital’s radiology department exams were printed on film, manually compiled with any previous studies performed on the patient and then hand carried by technologists to radiologists for interpretation.   The new PACS will bring exciting changes to areas of the hospital where medical images are used; in fact, it will have a positive impact on any specialty that uses fixed or moving images all in real time. 

The system can be configured to automatically acquire all prior images, which become available in the patient's virtual folder in the PACS. Finally, patients will benefit because they will no longer need to bring their x-rays to their physicians. For those situations where films are still needed, the hospital will have the ability to print images.

Doctors Hospital is excited to provide clinicians and patients with a filmless picture archiving communication system that will significantly improve patient care providing physician access through the Doctors Hospital website. The new system is part of Doctors Hospital’s strategic plan focusing heavily on excellence in physician services and patient care.

#end#