Preparation is the difference between unexpected PACS downtime and a nightmare, Michael D. Toland told his audience in Seattle on May 17 at the 2008 annual meeting of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine. Toland, who is PACS administrative team manager for the University of Maryland Medical System, Baltimore, presented PACS Worst Case

PACS data migration is so important that every PACS acquisition should include a plan for outbound migration at the end of that system’s life, according to Frederick M. Behlen, PhD. Behlen is an officer, director, and shareholder of LAITEK Inc, also known as Migratek™ Data Migration Services, Homewood, Ill. He serves as cochair of the DICOM–HL7

Radiologists at Yale University figuratively equate their PACS with a toolbox and themselves with artisans, from whose hands now spring forth remarkably useful pictures: namely, manipulated and reconstructed digital images of what lies beneath the epidermis.

While radiology practices and imaging center operators spend heavily on marketing liaisons to help cement favorable referral patterns, few understand the role that hands-on PACS IT support can play.

It was a Tuesday afternoon when I received the call. The new PET/CT scanner was installed, and acceptance testing was about to begin, but my medical physicist informed me that PACS was not listed as a destination. The installation team had not configured the scanner to communicate with PACS. Not too concerned, I asked to speak with the modality

Allowing physicians, whether they are referrers or outside specialists, access to an outpatient radiology practice’s PACS is a subject that is being discussed with increasing frequency among CIOs.

What does it take to be a successful PACS administrator? As we work with clients across the country, we are commonly asked this question. The answer lies in both understanding the multiple roles this person is asked to play and the resources that will be available to support him or her.

Selecting a PACS vendor is a long process requiring a significant amount of due diligence. Unfortunately, after the research, vendor demonstrations, and analysis of lengthy RFP responses, fatigue often sets in. As a result, one of the concluding, valuable steps—the PACS site visit—is often skipped or minimized. PACS site visits, however, if planned