Why A PACS Purchase Without Great Support Is A Wasted Investment

By Denny Phillips, President, NovaRad South

According to a recent issue of Health Management Technology, many health care executives and providers have bought into the idea the "PACS is a hardware-based technology". Industry experts see this as a fundamental fallacy when choosing a PACS solution.

The truth is that PACS is a practice-based business tool that uses a "solutionsbased" management approach rather than a piece of hardware or software. Sure, there are minimal standards of features, functionality, and performance. But, focusing merely on these attributes rather than on the way a given PACS solves operational needs, particularly after the purchase, is one of the primary reasons for radiologist and administration dissatisfaction with a given PACS.

Ideally, choose a PACS provider that will be able to adequately address all kinds of post-implementation questions that will inevitably arise.