A package for cost and critical analysis of picture archiving and communication indicating its true yield (CAPACITY)

The hospital-wide use of picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) promises a number of advantages in the future. These benefits will only be obtained at considerable costs, however. In view of the rapidly developing technology the costs of hardware can be expected to decrease. The ideas about the expected moment when the benefits will exceed the costs show wide variation. In order to get a better view on the cost comparison between PACS and the classical film-based system and also to stimulate discussions on this topic, a software package called CAPACITY (cost and critical analysis of picture archiving and communication indicating its true yield) has been developed by BAZIS within the scope of its IMAGIS (image information system) project. CAPACITY calculates the costs in the year of introduction for both situations, conventional and PACS, based on the consumption or use of the various resources (e.g. film, optical disks, manpower in the archive, operators, network, workstations etc.) needed for the production of the radiological department. These two costs are calculated for a series of years, thus giving an indication for the moment of breakeven. User-supplied data is interrelated and checked for plausibility against a number of expert given rules of thumb by CAPACITY's critique module. The first results and experiences acquired during a pilot study using a prototype version of the package will be discussed. The CAPACITY package is available for evaluation and trial (only distribution costs will be charged if experiences and results are returned).