From the November 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
• What is the organization’s position on the vendor-neutral archive? If the benefits are appreciated, what is the deployment schedule to achieve the dual-sited mirrored configuration and complete the various data migrations? What image data will not be migrated and what is the rationale for this decision?
• What is the organization’s strategy for replacing a PACS: replacement with a “like” turnkey system, or replacement with a carefully matched set of best-of-breed components including VNA, diagnostic display and workflow?
• What is the organization’s position on workflow/worklists? Can a single workflow/ worklist application support the nuances of each imaging department, and thus reduce cost and simplify support?
• Which of the above-mentioned components (diagnostic display, universal viewer, workflow and VNA) must be standalone versus integrated with another major component? What are the interdependencies and implications?
• What is the organization’s preferred infrastructure and architecture of the envisioned enterprise imaging solution?
• What are the IT preferences for hardware and software: servers, storage, virtual environment, operation systems, database management solutions, security and system monitoring?
• Has the organization considered whether it is capable of managing the envisioned enterprise imaging solution, especially if the solution turns out to comprise multiple components from disparate vendors? Have the necessary self-management tools and required staffing resources been identified? Once the envisioned enterprise imaging solution has been described in some detail and the consensus on that design achieved, the remaining step is determining the deployment schedule — the logical and often necessary order in which the various components are purchased and installed. Contributors to the deployment schedule include:
• The cost of each component, associated project management and support.
• Upgrade schedule/issues associated with existing components.
• “Burning bush” issues.
• Non-DICOM imaging study requirements/timing.
• PACS functionality for emerging imaging departments.
• Image-enabling the EMR, including access from mobile devices. Developing an enterprise imaging strategy/ solution is a substantial undertaking. The eventual solution will cross every department, impact every physician and certainly affect patient care. The strategic planning process itself requires a high degree of detail and the commitment of what will likely be the largest assembly of talent that the organization can muster. Now is the time to start the planning process, as no single imaging decision should be made outside of the enterprise plan.
Michael J. Gray is a consultant specializing in the digital management and distribution of medical image data, and the founder of Gray Consulting. Gray’s areas of expertise are market analysis, technology analysis, strategic planning, equipment utilization, needs assessment, workflow analysis and vendor analysis/selection.
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