From the November 2016 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
It’s inevitable that the entire service line will move onto the cloud. The question is: What’s going to move first? The most ideal target is the picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), the system that captures, stores, views and shares images internally and externally. The PACS is used by few people in the building, yet its information technology (IT) footprint is enormous, as is the value it provides.
Typically managed on premises, these systems are extremely expensive to manage and replace. Our research shows that the typical 150-bed hospital replaces its PACS every five to 10 years for an average capital expense of $400,000. However, the total cost of ownership of a PACS includes hundreds of thousands of dollars more in software license and maintenance fees, plus other buried internal costs to manage the system over time (i.e., IT support, administrative support, data center, hosting costs and more).
Ad Statistics
Times Displayed: 19605
Times Visited: 366 Stay up to date with the latest training to fix, troubleshoot, and maintain your critical care devices. GE HealthCare offers multiple training formats to empower teams and expand knowledge, saving you time and money
Given that hospitals have to find ways to secure every last dollar, the cloud-based PACS move is an obviously beneficial one. Radiology departments can realize immediate cost savings by eliminating capital outlays along with ongoing maintenance and license fees. By choosing a cloud-based PACS that includes support services, hospitals can also multiply the manpower and expertise of the hospital’s tech support team and strengthen its security through proactive 24/7 network monitoring.
Extending the care ecosystem
As radiology moves onto the cloud, huge cost savings will be the first of many benefits to come. What lies ahead is an opportunity to transform radiology through unprecedented connectivity — a virtual network that enables sharing of data and best practices within and between health systems. As this network grows and evolves, it will be able to connect specialists within large hospitals and health systems to providers located within resource-constrained rural and community-based hospitals.
The larger care provider organizations can extend the reach of their advanced radiology services and expertise to other health systems and hospitals across the country, expanding productivity and their care delivery footprint. For rural or community-based hospitals, this rapid, digital access to second opinions or consults from specialist colleagues — regardless of geography — serves to further enhance their quality of care without requiring patients to leave the comfort of their own provider. Connected radiology means access to the best radiology care for every patient at every hospital. That is our future, powered by the cloud.
About the author: Scott Seidelmann is the CEO of Candescent Health.Back to HCB News
