Keep these questions in mind when considering a vendor for your PACS installation or replacement.

1. How can I get a patient-centric view of information?

McKesson’s medical imaging solutions incorporate images and information from across medical specialties and the organization into a patient-centric view. So you have all the relevant patient information you need at the point of decision-making.

2. Is your PACS scalable to meet tomorrow's demands?

Yes. You can add modalities, users and links to other IT systems as your needs grow. Visit Clinical Advantages to learn more.

3. Will your PACS improve the financial performance of my department?

McKesson solutions increase department efficiency, reduce administrative burdens and tasks, and increase the opportunity to handle greater volume of procedures and exams. Visit Financial Benefits to learn more.

4. Can I access patients’ complete medical records?

McKesson supports anytime/anywhere access to complete patient information, resulting in better, faster decisions about patient care. Visit Operational Enhancements to learn more.

5. Does my PACS support informed decision-making and help reduce risk?

Because they're fully integrated with the organization's other clinical systems and electronic health records, McKesson solutions give diagnosing physicians instant access to the right information at the right time.

6. Can I get patient information and medical images anytime, anywhere?

With McKesson solutions, physicians inside and outside the organization can access critical patient information anytime, anywhere.

7. Will my PACS be reliable?

McKesson offers you the best up-time possible with behind-the-scenes remote monitoring and seamless support to ensure ongoing performance.

8. What should I consider if I wish to replace my existing system with a healthcare IT-focused PACS?

A strong vision for enterprise medical imaging. This allows facilities to take the workflow and productivity advantages already seen in radiology and extend them into the cardiology department and across the enterprise. By leveraging assets across the organization, the CIO reduces the total cost of ownership while still facilitating better, safer healthcare.

9. Can I count on my current system vendor to meet my expectations?

McKesson is a partner for life, committed to meeting and exceeding expectations. From our executives to our internationally certified service and support employees, we measure our success by your success.

McKesson has spent more than 30 years devoted to healthcare information technology, with an unmatched depth and breadth of healthcare IT expertise to provide solutions that meet your needs. We understand how to connect disparate departments and care disciplines, preserving and enhancing their unique workflow while linking them to the rest of the enterprise.

Ensure that your PACS implementation is as smooth and trouble-free as possible, with the fewest disruptions to your facility’s day-to-day operation. These preparations will help make it possible:

• Plan the time frame that's right for your hospital or medical imaging center
• Designate a team leader – someone who'll take charge and be the primary contact between you and your PACS vendor.
• Outline a collective understanding of your IT requirements
• Work with your vendor to determine a game plan
• Discuss how this implementation will change your workflow and make updates
• Bring together the right team, and make sure all responsibilities are clear
• Examine department requirements, considering ER, OR and nursing units, as well as Radiology

McKesson has years of experience working with healthcare enterprises to make their installations successful. Contact us to learn more about how we can work together to implement PACS at your facility.

Financing Considerations

Prepare for some of the questions you’ll have to consider when it’s time to begin planning for your PACS implementation. Contact Us to begin answering these important questions.

1. Is this project approved in your current budget year?
   1. Would it be valuable to defer payments until future budget years?
   2. When does the budget (fiscal) year end?
2. Are there other projects competing for same limited dollars?
   1. Are you also considering other projects/upgrades (CR, CT other SW or technology) in the next 12-18 months?
3. Outline the other projects, including timing and estimated cost.
4. How have you funded other solutions like this in the past: cash, rent/lease, loan or other?
   1. What other funding options were considered (if any)?
   2. Why did you choose your current option?
   3. Are there any new funding options you are considering: pay-per-image?
5. Understanding why and how to replace the existing system now.
   1. How long has current the system been in place?
   2. What was the estimated cost of that system?
   3. How did you fund the system: cash, rent/lease, loan or other?
   4. Are there operating dollars allocated annually that could be redirected from the current solution to the new?

Combining a RIS (Radiology Information System) with a PACS in your department allows you to realize additional workflow benefits and efficiencies. A tightly-integrated RIS/PACS can optimize the clinical workflow of your entire department by:

• Offering seamless “anytime, anywhere” access to radiology results and images throughout your healthcare enterprise.
• Streamlining administrative and clinical tasks and reducing the complexity of staff’s workflow.
• Providing a complete radiology solution that includes everything from scheduling and order management to dictation/transcription and charge preparation.

Similar to preparing for a PACS, there are many elements to consider when implementing a RIS:

PODCAST
Riding the Waves of Imaging Integration
Four experts discuss critical issues, including the need for the integration of advanced visualization tools, advantages of an integrated solution and the impact of reimbursements.

1. Is the RIS Web-based?

A Web-based RIS provides:
• Workflow management features and functionality at a lower cost of ownership
• Minimized deployment costs
• Reduced implementation issues

For the department staff, a Web-based RIS offers anywhere access, allowing them to perform their tasks wherever and whenever they need.

2. Is the RIS really connected to the enterprise information systems?

In order to provide a complete patient record for the radiologist and technologists, the RIS must interface with other hospital systems, including:
• EMR
• HIS
• Scheduling
• Ordering
• Financials
• Document Imaging
• Lab

3. Does the RIS allow you to perform routine tasks easily?

The ability to perform routine tasks intuitively and simply is vital to the successful adoption of your RIS. The user interface must be intuitive in order to reduce training costs, increase user acceptance and truly increase the department’s productivity.

4. Is the RIS integrated with your PACS?

Although you can achieve efficiencies through integration between existing RIS or PACS from different vendors, a single vendor solution offers:
• Improved workflow and operational efficiencies
• Lower total cost of ownership
• Tighter integration
• Improved data sharing benefits
• Better support and service

As digital mammography first began to come into use, adopters almost exclusively purchased dedicated reading stations, convinced by the vendor that this was the only valid option.

Today, integrating digital mammography into your existing PACS delivers critical benefits – most notably, improved workflow, which is enabled by streamlined integration between the workstation, PACS, RIS and digital acquisition unit.

Consider these advantages when adding digital mammography to your department’s workflow:

1. The enterprise-wide communication of PACS assists digital mammography

VIDEO
Kay Taylor, PACS Administrator, discusses integrating PACS with digital mammography at Roper St. Francis Healthcare. Dedicated mammography workstations provided by modality-based vendors are typically expensive, inefficient and unintuitive compared to Radiology PACS workstations.

Modality-focused workstations tend to have difficulty comparing images acquired by other makes and models of devices and often cannot show magnetic resonance or ultrasound comparisons.

2. Reduce workflow disruption

Integrated digital mammography with your existing PACS workstation provides a better viewing experience for your reporting radiologists, who do not need to re-learn another user interface or workstation feature set. Adoption is easier and faster.

3. Improve resource utilization

An integrated workstation allows you to save money and maximize workspace. Dedicated digital mammography workstations can be expensive, but you can save money and reduce downtime using existing PACS workstations and integrating mammography into your existing workflow.

Integrating digital mammography with your existing PACS also addresses the ergonomic and physical space requirements of adding another dedicated workstation into your existing digital workflow.

4. Provide a single view of the patient

Dedicated workstations do not have the extensive integration of Radiology PACS workstations, which provide access to prior reports and other information sources in the hospital. It is difficult to achieve a total view of the patient without all the relevant information available. With an integrated reading environment, multi-modality comparison is made easier, allowing you to:
• Read breast MR and breast US with instant access to digital mammograms on PACS
• Access non-mammography studies for review. For example, prior chest CTs are instantly available to help work up a problematic lesion on mammography
• Use the workstation for general radiology study interpretation (CR, CT, MR, XA, RF, etc.)

5. Integration to RIS

Additional benefits can be realized through true integration with the RIS — no need to hunt for the paper requisitions and old reports that are generally required with third-party workstations. All relevant patient documentation, history forms, requisitions and paper workflow are readily available.