PACS in the Utrecht University Hospital: final conclusions of the clinical evaluation

J. B.M. Wilmink; Bart M. ter Haar Romeny; Frits Hendrik Barneveld Binkhuysen; A. J. Achterberg; Karel J. Zuiderveld; P. Calkoen; Jef M.L. Kouwenberg

doi:10.1117/12.19023

1 August 1990 PACS in the Utrecht University Hospital: final conclusions of the clinical evaluation

J. B.M. Wilmink, Bart M. ter Haar Romeny, Frits Hendrik Barneveld Binkhuysen, A. J. Achterberg, Karel J. Zuiderveld, P. Calkoen, Jef M.L. Kouwenberg

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 1234, Medical Imaging IV: PACS Systems Design and Evaluation; (1990) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.19023
Event: Medical Imaging '90, 1990, Newport Beach, CA, United States

Abstract

In the past three years, a clinical evaluation of a PACS has been performed in the Utrecht University Hospital as part of the Dutch PACS project. The clinical evaluation focussed on the following aspects: technical evaluation of the prototype PACS equipment coupled to the HIS; diagnostic accuracy studies; studies concerning the impact on the organization of the radiology-department and the referring wards; and cost-savings analysis. Some of the results of these subprojects have already been presented at previous SPIE conferences. In this paper the general condusions are presented about the usefulness of the evaluated PAC-System in the daily routine of radiology department and clinic. By making available the images of radiological examinations fast, complete, reliable and continously on the ward, concrete improvements with regard to the current process could be realized. The possibilities of PACS caused an increasing enthousiasm among the clinicians. By the easier access to all images of their patients during 24 hours/day, they saw more images on the day of the examination and images could be more easily used at consultations of other specialists. The overall conclusion is positive, but a lot of work has to be done to transform PACS from an experimental setup into a routine production system on which a flimless hospital can be based. A complete PACS needs an inteffigent Image Management System, which indudes prefetching algorithms based on data from the Hospital Information System and automated procedures for removing obsolete images from the local buffers in the workstations. As yet PACS is very expensive, and the direct savings in the hospital cannot compensate for the high costs of investment. Possibly PACS can contribute to a shorter stay of patients in the hospital. This will lead to savings for government and health insurance companies and they can be expected to contribute to PAS implementation studies.

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J. B.M. Wilmink, Bart M. ter Haar Romeny, Frits Hendrik Barneveld Binkhuysen, A. J. Achterberg, Karel J. Zuiderveld, P. Calkoen, and Jef M.L. Kouwenberg "PACS in the Utrecht University Hospital: final conclusions of the clinical evaluation", Proc. SPIE 1234, Medical Imaging IV: PACS Systems Design and Evaluation, (1 August 1990); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.19023

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