"Most hospitals don't want a new RIS; they already have it in their HIS and the last thing they want to do is replace that. That's a huge undertaking," said Edward Heere, President and CEO, CoActiv Medical Business Solutions, Ridgefield, CT. "It's easy to sell a PACS without a RIS. It's impossible to sell a RIS without a PACS these days because nobody wants to buy just a RIS. They want to buy a combined RIS/PACS, or they want to buy a PACS to complement the RIS that they already have."

Integrating the RIS/PACS with the entire HIS is a larger challenge, which is being met in part by the open architecture of the latest systems, designed to work with each other. In the future, PACS may drive a total data gestalt encompassing all departments and referring physicians-cardiology, orthopedics, oncology; pathology, laboratory, pharmacy, etc. Such an integrated enterprise would also support broader use of the applications delivered by health information technologies such as CAD and 3D imaging. Those bells and whistles are great, but right now hospitals are more concerned about efficiency.


The promise of cost-saving is propelling RIS/PACS and HIS investment. And now, the federal stimulus appropriation will pump money into the hospital IT infrastructure.

"This boost from the new administration to have a really digital, patient-centric record will drive the exchange of information and speed of care," said Carestream's McNitt. "Combined with advanced technology, the availability of the broadband Internet and technology pricing going down, it's a good time for it all to converge so we are very excited about it."

By all accounts, the future will revolve around the "C" in PACS-Communication.

"The PACS of today and tomorrow is all about workflow. Places are finally going paperless. They are integrating into the electronic medical record, RIS, lab -- all the information. So everybody is screaming for the same thing--to enhance the way we get information through the hospital and the enterprise," said Philips' Petracci. "Over the next few years you will see a sharp convergence of radiology PACS with cardiology PACS with supporting information systems all on one platform. For the first time we will come close to transparency where nobody knows what system they are actually using. These systems will just do the job."

If that happens, hospitals can get out of the IT business and get back to focusing on health services.

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>> Click here to read:
Just the PACS-Questions to Ask Vendors
by Bill Bogutski, Principal, HIS Professionals, LLC

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