From the April 2013 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Unfortunately, many of the MMI devices developed by the laser imager manufacturers could be described as problematic, inefficient and a slew of other bad adjectives. Independent manufacturers of generic MMI devices could deliver better products, and the laser imager manufacturers knew this. If the customer wanted to swap out the multi-modality frontend — and dump the laser imager manufacturer’s version for one of these independent models — the laser vendors made that tough.
When asked to remove the multi-modality frontend from their package quotes, the vendor would frequently remove less than the price previously shown for the MMI device. Muddled explanations were offered for this surprise. The tactic was quite obvious; their package price was somehow going to be less than the price of their laser imager combined with another vendor’s multi-modality device. As it turned out, lots of organizations paid more money to make that switch, but I don’t think anyone forgot that bitter taste. Fool me once, shame on you…
In summary
I have come to believe that in the short term, until the PACS vendors catch up, the ideal next-gen radiology PACS is a best-of-breed combination of an advanced visualization application paired with an advanced worklist and analytics package that have both been designed to sit on top of the VNA.
I reviewed three companies at RSNA 2012 that offer commercially available work flow and analytics packages:
Compressus, Medicalis, and Primordial. Visage Imaging is the only company I reviewed that offers advanced Visualization/ Diagnostics packages. Based on those RSNA reviews, I believe it is now possible to construct a next generation PACS by layering a workflow/analytics package on top of a visualization/diagnostics package and interface this combination with a true VNA. That combination is substantially more potent than any of the PACS solutions the traditional PACS vendors are offering today.
Michael J. Gray is a consultant specializing in the digital management and distribution of medical image data, and the founder of Gray Consulting. Gray’s areas of expertise are market analysis, technology analysis, strategic planning, equipment utilization, needs assessment, workflow analysis, and vendor analysis/selection.
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