PACS and Digital Medicine: Essential Principles and Modern Practice

In an effort to both improve healthcare quality and reduce costs, healthcare professionals are currently moving from paper-based medical records to integrated electronic health record (EHR). In addition, individual departments using imaging equipments are moving to picture archiving and communication systems (PACS).While radiology PACS has been available for many years, it is only recently that hospitals and clinics have begun to implement large-scale PACS and integrate them with other clinical information systems. These late PACS adopters are currently implementing state-of-the-art systems for the first time, whereas many early adopters are replacing legacy systems for the second or third time. PACS is quite different compared to other medical imaging equipment and has progressed significantly in the last decade. As radiology PACS matures, its application is extending well beyond radiology into the healthcare enterprise, where other imaging technologies are used.This book is a comprehensive resource for healthcare IT professionals, including radiologists, PACS administrators, radiology/clinical engineering personnel, radiology/healthcare administrators, and PACS specialists for cardiology, endoscopy, and pathology. It presents key principles and practical steps for PACS and EHR implementations, and their maintenance.It covers various components of PACS using state-of-the-art technologies. Unlike other imaging equipment, each PACS installation is unique, requiring customization. In recognition of this, the text provides introductory and background information an design principles for various PACS components, as well as typical practical issues to consider prior to implementation.This depth of information will allow readers to adapt the implementation to meet their specific requirements.The book also covers post-installation quality control, security and privacy policies, maintenance including upgrade/integration with other information systems, and relevant governing standards. These discussions are supplemented by more than 130 illustrations and illustrated with case studies of implementation in two large facilities: a clinical health care system and an academic institution.