Intelerad White Papers

In the previous stops of our journey, we visited PACS terminology, hardware, and networking terms.

Do you speak PACS fluently?  Hitch a ride with us into the world of PACS jargon to find out.

Last newsletter, we defined terms for PACS standards and processes. In this article we present some hardware terminology. The terms defined here describe the hardware that a PACS depends on to perform well in the demanding environment of a radiology department or practice.

It's Sunday evening. You have been working on an important report over the past few days that is due tomorrow morning. Suddenly, your computer freezes and you have no choice but to reboot. You then discover that your precious report is corrupted and cannot be repaired. That sinking feeling in your stomach creeps in as you come to the realization that you do not have any backups of it. Naturally, you begin to panic.

Most of us have had to deal with a similar horror story at one point or another. As we increasingly rely on information technology, we tend to forget how important our data is and how vulnerable we are to data loss. We maintain our contacts on our cell phone, our financial reports are saved on our laptop, our appointments are kept in our PDA, and our emails are stored somewhere in cyberspace in a Hotmail, Yahoo or Google account. Have you ever given serious thought to how you would recover from losing some – or worse, all – of your data?

Like the diversity that identifies individual cultures, every technology industry speaks its own language, and the PACS medium is no different.

Buried within the layers of proprietary jargon, lies a linguistic commonality that all vendors and PACS users share. They are the acronyms and terms that define our industry, and span across all PACS territories.

The purpose of this article is to help you find your way around some of the terms and acronyms in the PACS industry.

Whether you are new to the PACS field or a veteran fluent with the jargon, all readers alike can benefit from this brief overview.

Ever wonder what a good RIS/PACS integration really involves?  In this era of IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise) and ‘best-of-breed’ solutions, RIS/PACS integrations bring you significant workflow gains while allowing you the flexibility of selecting the product and vendor that works best for you.  This article will take you ‘under the hood’ of RIS/PACS integrations so that you can have a better understanding of the components and choices that ultimately impact your workflow success.

Congratulations!  You’ve finally selected your new PACS vendor and have just inked the deal.  But before you crack open that bottle of champagne, get ready... because the real work is about to begin and your vendor needs to deliver on promises.  According to Anne Hengen, Intelerad’s Professional Services Manager, a vendor that performs careful project planning and has an experienced professional services team are the keys to implementation success.

Do you know enough about data migration to keep your business running smoothly?  Read this white paper to help your organization through the next data transition.