Jim Dockins

Minimizing Risk

PACS and the Hospital's Strategic Vision

There are two kinds of "fits" to consider when evaluating the risk of a PACS investment, says CIO Jeff Frieling:

  • Technology fit - does the system integrate with the existing information infrastructure?
  • Future fit - does the vendor's vision dovetail with the hospital's information strategies and, most importantly, does the company have the staying power to make that vision a reality.

Minimizing Risk

GE scored high on both counts, says Frieling. Adds Vice President of Hospital Operations Jim Dockins, "We view GE as a true business partner, not just another company selling products and services."

That relationship will be key as Jackson General moves forward with PACS, expanding its utility within the enterprise and into the community. "If we just stop at the hospital, we're not getting the full bang for our investment," says Frieling. The hospital is considering plans to:

  • Connect more physician offices and homes via fiber optic network
    This will have a "huge impact on physician productivity and convenience," says PACS Administrator Ken Hollis.
  • Ramp up staff education
    "We need to keep pushing PACS toward full utilization so that in the near future, physicians in all departments are viewing images in real time," says Frieling.
  • Integrate RIS-PACS database
    The hospital expects the completely integrated RIS/PACS system to "take radiology workflow to the next level."
  • Add affiliated hospitals to the network
    Expansion of the PACS network beyond the main campus will enable new treatment scenarios in which, for example, ER images from the five community hospitals could be transmitted to Jackson General specialists in their offices or homes. "It's another way we can improve care and deliver better services to our customers," says Frieling.
  • Warehouse images for staff physicians
    A pilot implementation is currently examining the feasibility of enabling physicians with imaging systems in their offices to use the Jackson General PACS as a central image repository. Physicians would have immediate access to patient studies from either location.

These initiatives are just the start, say hospital managers.

"We will continue - on a daily, weekly, monthly basis - to find new ways to re-engineer our business and patient processes using PACS and our other information systems," says Dockins. "And as we explore the various ways to integrate their capabilities, we will have an exponential gain in benefits."