A recent study finds that U.S. hospitals are interested in purchasing a vendor neutral archive (VNA) to achieve greater economies of scale across multiple departments, but even more want to take advantage of advanced visualization applications.
CapSite, a healthcare technology research and advisory firm that is also a part of HIMSS, surveyed 415 hospitals, a majority being 200 beds or less, for its 2012 U.S. Imaging IT Study.
Thirty-three percent of those surveyed said they have purchased a VNA in the past four years.
"Our study shows that a third of the U.S. hospital market has adopted a VNA solution to date while another 19% plan to invest in a new VNA, said CapSite research director, Brendan FitzGerald, in a statement.
Because VNAs are non-proprietary, they can help facilities access, manage and exchange patient information and images through many clinical workflow applications.
Robert Taylor, president and CEO of Terarecon, a provider of advanced visualization as well as vendor neutral applications, told DOTmed News that the industry is moving toward a vendor-neutral mindset because of the flexibility it gives a radiology department with archiving and displaying the images.
"You can get your images into one neutral archive and then attach the 'best of breed' to the various things you want to do with those images,' he said.
Additionally, forty-seven percent of hospitals that participated in the CapSite survey said they would be purchasing or upgrading their advanced visualization solution in the next 2 years.
Advanced visualization tools can help enhance PACS images, especially for CT, MR and PET.
