"Everyone needs a helping 'hand,' that's why we developed PAW."

There's a lot of talk about digital imaging. It's no longer a debate about whether you should move away from film or if the proper digital imaging technology exists, but rather when and how. On the image capture side, the debate is over. There are two methods and they both have their pros and cons.

Until now the big question was to how you could store, distribute, diagnose and share these images with owners and referring veterinarians in an organized and cost-effective manner.

The Answer is PAW^TM

PAW stands for PACS Appliance and Workstation and it is a product developed by American Medical Sales. PACS (Picture Archive and Communication System) is the universal medical term for the digital network and equipment necessary to make digital imaging work. It is based on the international standard of DICOM. What this means is that if you select solutions that use this standard, you will not be locked into one vendor's solution as your practice grows or changes. You remain in control.

PAW is our answer for a cost-effective, easily maintained PACS for veterinarians. PAW takes all the key elements of our large medical PACS solutions and packages them in a rational size for veterinary practices.
You need the same functionality of a hospital-based digital network, but not the complexity or the cost.

Here is a list of the key Features PAW provides:

- A highly redundant and safe method for storing all your images. This is called a RAID Level 5 storage system. PAW can hold the equivalent of 25,000 14"x17" sheets of x-ray film. That's years of storage for the typical veterinary practice.

- Unlike other systems, all your images can be accessed immediately because they are all stored on-line at all times.

- Two methods of backing up the same images that are stored in the RAID. You can configure PAW with either a removable hard drive backup system or use our off-site storage center to perform this function. Both systems run automatically.

- A method to make CD's with client images for distribution to owners or other professionals. These CD's have an advanced viewing program that self-starts when the CD is inserted into a PC.

- Five licenses for remote viewing within your facility (LAN). This allows you to use inexpensive PC's or WIFI-enabled tablet PC's to display images in your surgery areas or patient exam rooms.

- A diagnostic quality workstation for your interpretation work. Our PAW workstation software includes all the imaging tools you need to get the most out of your images. (Window, level, zoom, pan, annotation, measure length, angle, Hounsfeld units, invert, rotate and more.)

- Connectivity to CR and/or DR technology.

What does this all cost?

PAW can't cost an arm and a leg if it is going to provide you a helping hand. The retail price is just $29,950. That includes all hardware and software, pre-planning meetings and interfacing with your modality providers. If you don't have CR or DR and want us to provide these, we can.

Why such a low price? Because AMS has a wide customer base to support development of these types of products and because we write and own our own software products. Most other firms offering products in this area are just "system integrators" who piece together products developed by other companies. That not only drives up prices but can delay their ability to address customer service issues.

Design, development, support, implementation and equipment validation for PAW are all done by AMS and its authorized dealers.

What's gained from digital...what's the financial payback?

There are advantages for your clients and for your practice:

- Reduction in the number of images and therefore the amount of radiation.
- Quicker "development" and distribution of images.
- Elimination of your darkroom and the hazardous chemicals involved in this messy process.
- Mention the personnel and material costs.
- Elimination of film.
- Better storage and easier and faster retrieval of client information.
- Easy distribution of images within your offices, to your patients' owners and referring veterinarians.

As for return of investment, consider these two scenarios using PAW with a new CR modality.

We're Ready to Help!

Going digital is now an easy decision to implement with PAW. Gone is the need for complete computer and software support at your clinic. With PAW we have introduced a new term: PAW is a "PACS Appliance". It is designed to be just another piece of equipment in your practice, like your phone equipment, copy machine or x-ray machine. PAW is just another helping hand to make your practice more efficient.

For more information, please contact Greg Perry, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at 1-800-423-3535 or by email at jgperry@digitalams.com