Planning for a PACS implementation requires careful thought about future needs, as well as considering needs for future growth despite a lack of current facilities.
While workflow within imaging centers often mirrors that of larger academic centers, specific needs of radiologists, technologists and referring clinicians often dictate different solutions. IT departments within imaging centers may use open source solutions to fill specific needs where commercial software is too expensive. Additionally, Imaging Centers frequently lack specialized IT and clinical resources.
IIPs and IT staff must follow a generalist model to handle different challenges. Because imaging centers frequently stand alone and lack collaborative relationships with other institutions, IIPs and other staff may not have access to shared community information about digital imaging.
This can be successfully addressed via the formation of a local user group to link together IIPs from different institutions and with different platforms to enable a large pool of local knowledge and support. Such a user group can also provide the first steps towards image exchange across a metropolitan area. |