There is no doubt that vendor neutral archives (VNAs) have gained favor over the last several years in managing medical images. But there is some debate over whether hospitals really need both a VNA and a PACS. If PACS can do double duty as VNA and PACS, why do you need both? As we see it, you don’t, as long as you have a true enterprise PACS and here’s why.

Nearly two decades ago, the PACS race was on in Southern California’s Inland Empire. The main event pitted the regional medical center, 439-bed Riverside County Regional Medical Center, against the larger 719-bed Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC). In 1998, Riverside won the race by about six months, installing the first PACS in the region and, in the process, becoming the first hospital in the U.S. to select Sectra PACS.

Case Study: UMass Memorial Health Care wanted to drive quality improvements within radiology services for its system of hospitals and clinics.

In the ongoing effort to improve its solutions with customer input, Konica Minolta Healthcare Americas will be showcasing new features in the Exa™ Platform that enhance patient engagement, referring provider satisfaction and imaging workflow productivity.

Breast-imaging patients and the radiologic technologists who serve them have long wished for a breast radiologist to be there for them—on call or already present—whenever questions or concerns arise in the exam room.

It was early 2015 when the team at Carilion Clinic decided they had outgrown their PACS and needed to replace their decade-old system.

It can be safely said that the healthcare services industry is in a state of flux like never before. Reform initiatives driving the mandate to create interoperability are not in any way exempting medical imaging.

When radiologists use a new platform or workstation for the first time, there is often an adjustment period. The radiologist has to take it on a “test drive” of sorts, seeing how certain functions are carried out and learn how to get the most out of the technology.