PACS Radiology Technology: Putting Efficiency and Accuracy First

Radiology practices, clinics, and hospitals utilize their picture archiving and communication system (PACS) for short-term and long-term management of medical images. Due to the system’s central role in enabling physicians to diagnose and treat patients, there are two factors that enable its success for daily usage: efficiency and accuracy.

Efficiency for PACS radiology is crucial to handle the demands of a modern healthcare practice for:

• Daily workflows (e.g., scheduling, reminders, templates, alerts, automation, etc.)
• Faster timeframes to retrieve, store, and distribute images
• Mobile device capabilities for physicians in different locations, as well as referring physicians
• Ergonomics for quicker analysis and diagnosis

Similarly, accuracy for PACS radiology is essential to provide:

• Detailed maintenance of high-resolution images in multiple formats (e.g., 2D, 3D, and 4D overlays)
• Quality assurance measures
• Compatibility with DICOM/non-DICOM images
• Ensuring that data is only transmitted to authorized persons according to HIPAA regulations and standards

Considering that the modern radiology practice or department is built around the flow of information, increasing the speed and quality of imaging ensures better patient care, increased profits, and greater satisfaction among staff. In this article, we examine how modern PACS technology can help your staff work more efficiently and accurately for better patient care.

Efficiency for PACS Radiology

Efficiency for PACS radiology involves several aspects to streamline your practice:

• Efficient storage solutions: A centralized database improves data transmission speed, access, and archiving capabilities.
• Cost-effectiveness: Reducing unnecessary hardware costs and expenses provides radiology practices/departments with more resources to devote elsewhere.
• Automation for greater staff productivity: This frees up valuable time that would otherwise be spent with repetitive tasks (such as manual backups, image organization, forms/reports, etc.)
• Unlimited access to data: Physicians, nurses, and other clinicians can access info quickly with a streamlined PACS solution that provides critical patient information instantly, without spending time burning CDs, attempting logins through various portals, or memorizing passwords.
• Responsiveness: Physicians must have a PACS solution that enables the assessment of changes over time and real-time collaboration with colleagues for better patient outcomes.
• Ergonomics: Having physicians and radiologists use an all-in-workstation for PACS reduces fatigue, strain, and burnout for a more productive work environment.
• Mobile capability: A network of dedicated mobile devices helps physicians in different geographical settings view, process, and interpret images.
• Better patient care: The efficiency of PACS creates a cascading effect to improve patient care and satisfaction through shorter wait times, faster diagnoses, ownership over their medical images and reports, and other time-sensitive benefits.

The failure to provide physicians and radiologists with tools that foster efficiency leads to poor patient outcomes, radiologist burnout, overworked staff, potential misdiagnoses, and a lackluster reputation for customer service.

Efficiency Solutions from Novarad

To attain the efficiency benefits of PACS radiology, Novarad offers several products and solutions for your practice:

• Nova RIS Radiology Information System Software
  • Nova RIS improves the productivity of radiology departments, streamlining workflows for the entire patient journey from scheduling to report distribution. It also strengthens referral relationships and maximizes revenue by featuring automation to increase the efficiency of common tasks (e.g., eForms, patient reminders, alert mechanisms for contraindications, etc.).
• NovaPACS Radiology Picture Archiving & Communication System
  • NovaPACS is an ergonomic solution designed to enable users to read across a broad range of applications with unparalleled speed. With a built-in mammography viewer, 3D, image fusion, and many other advanced capabilities, users can efficiently read and compare images without having to move between workstations or physical locations. With the wealth of advanced features, users can focus efficiently on the most critical work of providing high-quality patient care. NovaPACS is a completely scalable solution for all sizes of radiology practices (e.g., imaging centers, large/enterprise hospitals, etc.).

Accuracy for PACS Radiology

Accuracy for PACS radiology involves several aspects that can increase the quality of your practice:

• Better imaging: High-resolution images and video are required for better patient care through accurate diagnoses.
• Multiple formats: Having a wide variety of media to compare (such as 2D, 3D, and 4D overlays) equips physicians with a wealth of visual data.
• Adherence to HIPAA: HIPAA sets out guidelines and standards that radiology must adhere to. Having a solution that encrypts data to these standards and secures PHI ensures that only authorized individuals can access sensitive patient data.
• Artificial intelligence: AI assistance can help locate veins, intestines, and other anatomical structures that are often obscured.
• Storyboarding: Images that are visible in a storyboard format enable physicians to assess changes over time, collaborate with colleagues, and engage patients as a visual space to educate them.

Failure to provide physicians and radiologists with tools that foster accuracy can lead to poor patient outcomes, misdiagnoses, and liability issues stemming from potential malpractice.

Accuracy Solutions from Novarad

NovaPACS and Nova RIS were designed with accuracy in mind. Novarad also offers many other products and solutions for your practice that can increase the overall accuracy of your operations:

• OpenSight: Augmented Reality Surgical Navigation
  • OpenSight from Novarad is an FDA-cleared augmented reality surgical navigation system that increases surgical accuracy and confidence.
• VisAR: Augmented Reality Surgical Guidance
  • VisAR from Novarad is another FDA-cleared augmented reality surgical navigation system that increases surgical accuracy and confidence.
• AlertView: Mobile Report Alerts
  • AlertView is a mobile device alert system that notifies physicians when reports are ready for evaluation.
• ChameleonDR: Digital Radiography
  • Chameleon DR is a digital radiography system with advanced and adaptive image processing.
• CryptoChart: Secure Image & Report Sharing
  • CryptoChart enables simple, HIPAA-compliant sharing of patient images and reports without CDs, passwords, or portals.
• MobileRad: Mobile Diagnostic Viewer
  • MobileRad enables the secure viewing of patient reports and key images, including a comparison to prior studies.
• Ncompass Enterprise Imaging
  • Ncompass modernizes the way that you can capture, manage, store, view, exchange, and analyze clinical imaging and multimedia content across the enterprise.
• Nova 3D+: Advanced Imaging
  • Nova3D+ provides real-time advanced graphic processing to perform advanced imaging techniques.
• NovaCardio: Cardiology
  • NovaCardio is a full cardiology PACS with optional structured reporting and functional analysis.
• NovaDose: Dose Management
  • NovaDose provides centralized radiation dose monitoring.
• NovaMG PRO: Mammography
  • NovaMG PRO is a multi-modality workstation with an integrated mammography viewer that enables you to read a wide variety of mammography studies and other studies, all in one place.
• NovaOrtho: Orthopedics
  • NovaOrtho is a specialized PACS for orthopedic viewing and reading.
• SnapView: Mobile Image Capture
  • SnapView is a secure image capture application for Apple devices and is a key component of the Ncompass Enterprise Imaging platform.
• Novarad AI Diagnostic Assistant: COVID Diagnosis
  • Novarad AI COVID-19 Diagnostic Assistant leverages CT scans and artificial intelligence to quickly diagnose, isolate, and treat patients.
• NovaPRO: Teleradiology
  • NovaPRO is a complete PACS and RIS solution for radiology reading groups.

Conclusion

Efficiency and accuracy are two of the most important parameters for PACS radiology technology. Using solutions that achieve new efficiencies and precision is essential for a modernized healthcare practice to get better patient outcomes, more streamlined outcomes, and increased profits.

Here at Novarad, we believe that the key to a successful imaging center is to work smarter, not harder, to deliver the type of care and outcomes that patients desire.

To see how we can help improve your workflows, feel free to reach out to our workflow specialists today!