Picture archiving and communication systems are a part of most clinical imaging workflows in the U.S., reported Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Analytics in its 2015 Imaging Technology Study. However, the organization says medical imaging specialists are still looking for more streamlined image sharing and storage solutions.
PACS Become An Industry Standard
HIMSS Analytics surveyed 280 health systems, hospitals and industry leaders for its report, and found that 100 percent of respondents used PACS in a clinical setting.
In 2000, only 8.5 percent of hospitals in the U.S. used PACS in some capacity, reported The Dorenfest Institute for Health Information. By 2008, 76 percent of hospitals used the technology. For the most part, adoption unfolded in an unbroken, upward progression. The digital imaging revolution reinvigorated health care technology departments. Hospitals began taking technological risks and adopted new systems with an eye toward the horizon, scanning for the next imaging innovation.
"PACS and developments in imaging technologies are symbiotic," Robert Gould, Sc.D., a professor of radiology at the University of California, San Francisco, said during the Symposium for Computer Applications in Radiology back in 2004. "You can't really separate the ability to display images from the ability to capture them, because as you develop better display techniques, there's also the development of better capture techniques. And that's going to continue."
Looking To The Future
Today, this industry-wide drive to innovate persists. And, HIMSS Analytics Research Director Brendan FitzGerald said as much in a news release that accompanied the 2015 technology report.
"While many organizations are comfortable with their PACS imaging technology, there seems to be some opportunity on an enterprise level to get as much information as possible into the hands of physicians at the point of care," he said. "Enterprise imaging viewing capabilities across numerous technology platforms could potentially aid in that effort."
Almost 50 percent of respondents said they used enterprise image viewers. And 37 percent of respondents who identified as non-users said they had plans to implement enterprise systems.
Discover the trends in healthcare imaging habits: https://t.co/cfQBstv7Pp << A year-over-year analysis pic.twitter.com/8mPHS6Ibnf
— HIMSS Analytics (@HIMSSAnalytics) January 15, 2016
Most viewer-equipped hospitals and private practices still use multiple servers to store images, but as cloud-storage technology becomes more ubiquitous within the industry, these physical storage systems will disappear. According to the report, cloud-based storage use was up by 4 percent in 2015. However, many care providers still have concerns about data security.
"Obviously, there are still a lot of questions people have – some unease or misunderstanding about the security of the cloud approach, but to see that increase is certainly a positive for the storage aspect of imaging," said FitzGerald.
Many in the industry believe widespread adoption of cloud storage technology could help solve a larger problem still facing medical imaging professionals: interoperability.
In December, the Radiological Society of North America, in partnership with the Sequoia Project, launched the Image Share Validation Program, reported AuntMinnie.com. The project aims to spur industry-wide adoption of image-sharing technology by evaluating and validating available systems. The RSNA hopes to show providers that this technology can securely handle sensitive information.
"The Image Share Validation program is sending a message," Dr. David Mendelson, vice chair of radiology information technology at the Mount Sinai Health System, said in a news release. "To promote the best interest and care of our patients, the world of imaging is ready to rapidly advance standards-based solutions for imaging interoperability. These are standards employed elsewhere in the world and present a solution that can evolve as new technologies arise."
Private companies have also latched onto this push.
In January 2013, Toronto-based critical care physician Dr. Joshua Landy released a third-party image-sharing application called Figure 1, reported AuntMinnie.com. The application allows imaging professionals to share secure scans with their colleagues via computers and mobile devices.
According to HIMSS, around 30 percent of radiologists want smartphone or tablet image access, and emerging products like Figure 1 fill this void. Currently, 500,000 users from 190 different countries share scans on the application.
"The value is in that network of health care professionals all working together and having them all thinking about and talking about cases that come through, and creating what may end up being one of the largest visual indexes of things in medicine," Landy said in an interview with AuntMinnie.com.
Brendan FitzGerald believes other mobile solutions will launch in the coming years, as imaging professionals look for more viewing options outside of their workstations.
"Mobile could be key," he said in an interview with Healthcare IT News. "Nobody is looking to replace their PACS workstations, but we're seeing an uptick in tablets and smartphones. They were the highest-rated planned purchases for imaging access, lending credibility to the potential growth in the enterprise viewing."
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Ronny Bachrach
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