It is no surprise that teleradiology market is constantly flourishing and has been able to connect the actual demand of radiology services and radiologists across the world and now that teleradiology acceptance in the modern world has increased the demands of PACS and RIS softwares.
PACS stand for Picture Archiving and Communication System. These systems are used for short and long-term management, retrieval, storage, and distribution of medical images. PACS System Radiology not only simplified the sharing and viewing of radiology images but also gained success in maintaining image resolution/clarity. The four important components of a PACS system that has enabled it to enter the major league are as follows:
- Radiology imaging systems such as MRI, CAT scan, X-ray, etc.
- A confidential and secure network to exchange patient data in any form either photos, video
- A network of dedicated mobile devices or work stations with the help of which doctors can view, process, and interpret images
- You can store and retrieve images and other related documentation from the archives.
On the other hand, RIS is a patient management system, which stands for the Radiology Information System. RIS is used for different purpose including, patient scheduling, reporting, results distribution, examination performance tracking, resource management, and procedure billing.
How Integration of PACS and RIS systems is Beneficial?
In healthcare, since each system is very costly, medical practices are moving towards a unified approach where a single integrated system could give them the results at a cost-effective range. Gradually, PACS has become backbone of many diagnostic centers as it can store and easily manage digital images efficiently. The integration of PACS/RIS, has helped in improved data integrity and an integration system costs much less than separate PACS and RIS system for healthcare. These integrated systems have even proved to be a better design for standard workflow and patient satisfaction.
Though there are certain hindrances, PACS doesn’t go good with HL7, which is the standard used for PACS and RIS but RIS needs DICOM interface to access PACS data. This helped radiologists, access to images whenever and wherever they are. This will also allow patient’s immediate access to their reports.
In the near future, new emerging technologies will benefit the company’s PACS/RIS platform. While getting a PACS Teleradiology system, it is crucial to ask your vendor what they provide to help you to improve the productivity of the Tele-radiology business or practice. In 2020 you can say that the world is progressing towards a new era of PACS and RIS systems.
