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PACS--clinical experience at UCLA
1Department of Radiological Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine 90024.
Insights
Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) implementation enhanced clinical workflows and teaching. PACS improved radiology consultations and enabled effective remote collaboration, benefiting patient care.
Area of Science:
- Radiology
- Medical Informatics
Background:
- UCLA initiated Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) implementation starting with Pediatric Radiology and the Coronary Care Unit.
- The project expanded to encompass all CT and MR imaging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To detail the implementation and clinical advantages of PACS at UCLA.
- To assess the impact of PACS on radiology practice, clinical conferences, and medical education.
Main Methods:
- Phased implementation of PACS across various hospital departments, including Pediatric Radiology and Coronary Care Unit.
- Integration of PACS to enable communication between outpatient facilities, the main hospital, and a remote research facility.
- Evaluation of clinical benefits and user satisfaction.
Main Results:
- Completed PACS development for all CT and MR imaging, facilitating inter-facility communication.
- Enhanced effectiveness of clinical conferences, allowing more in-depth case review with reduced overall time.
- Positive clinician satisfaction reported at remote sites, with a noted need for integrated radiologist interpretations.
- Enabled interactive medical student teaching and facilitated a new paradigm for radiological practice through quantitative image analysis.
Conclusions:
- PACS implementation at UCLA has successfully integrated various clinical and research facilities.
- PACS offers significant clinical advantages, including improved conference efficiency, enhanced teaching capabilities, and advanced diagnostic consultations.
- The system supports effective remote collaboration and quantitative image analysis, transforming traditional radiology practice.
Abstract:
Implementation of picture archiving communication systems (PACS) at UCLA began with the evaluation of the systems in Pediatric Radiology, one of the 11 sections of the Department and the Coronary Care Unit, one of the 14 ICU's in the Hospital. We have now completed PACS development for all CT's and MR's which allows communication between a newly developed outpatient facility, the hospital, and the remote research facility in addition to Pediatric Radiology and the Coronary Care Unit. The following are some of the advantages of PACS from a clinical standpoint: (a) Conferences with clinicians have been more effective by spending more time on each case, but less total time for each conference; (b) Clinicians are satisfied with PACS at the remote site, but it is clear that the radiologists' interpretation must accompany the images; (c) PACS allows for the development of interactive teaching of the students; (d) PACS allows for a new method of radiology practice by analyzing the image and providing a more comprehensive, quantitative consultation, otherwise not possible with analog systems.