A state-of-the-art PACS is an innovation technology that has taken imaging capabilities into the future. Penang Adventist Hospital (PAH) Radiology department now owns a Agfa PACS and Versalius RIS (Radiology Information System), both are the latest technology that transforms the way radiological images are viewed, analyzed, stored and shared, enabling our PAH Radiologist to diagnose and consultant specialists to treat the patient more efficiently.

Radiology Department of PAH utilizes a wide range of modalities including CR, CT, MR, Dexa, Mammo, flat-panel Angio, Ultrasound and etc. Radiological images generated by these modalities will be captured directly and are archived to our Agfa PACS. In addition to these, our enterprise solution PACS is also able to digitize old films/reports and store them for future comparison.

The Management Information System (MIS) and Radiology of PAH realized that web-distribution technology (Web-Server Technology) which provides hospital-wide distribution of radiology image is more practical and affordable.

The image distribution and viewing software is maintained on a single web-server. Viewing of radiological images and report can be done easily by using any regular PCs with latest web browser.

The Agfa PACS clinical review software namely “WEB 1000” is extremely simple and user-friendly. It can deliver secure levels of data transfer. The department still produces film for outside tertiary referral and for medical legal purposes. Currently, our hospital has a site license which enable unlimited concurrent users access to the system. As a result, all doctors can view the patient’s images and at the same time at different locations to discuss the best care of practice for the benefit of our patient.

Now we have PC in every clinic, ward and even OT (mobile PC). These PCs will be used not only as clinical review stations but also applications such as the hospital Versalius HIS, RIS and etc giving users immediate and wide-spread access to image, data and reports. Besides that, our software based Agfa PACS not only can capture the images to short term RAID but also send these images to a tape library for long term storage.

Radiology Manager Mr. Tan Jui Kok of PAH said “The change to Agfa PACS has been well received, it is very popular with our clinicians particularly the A&E department. Even though, the department is not far from Radiology, however having images instantly available to them while their patient is still in radiology gives them great advantage to provide the prompt treatment planning”.

PACS Poster (click to enlarge)

Reduce Access Time And Precise Diagnosis.

The core advantage of PACS is because it can deliver the right images to the right place at the right time. Orthopedic surgeons greatly appreciate the image manipulation of Agfa PACS Web-1000. They said “It is fantastic; I can now zoom into part of an image and see things I could not see before on a traditional film, using a magnifying glass. It is extremely good for things like Colles’ fracture”.

Clinicians can also view images from several different investigations at the same time on the same review station. Radiology Manager, Mr. Tan Jui Kok commented “Missing of X-ray packets, lost films and reports will become a thing of history. PACS is helping us to improve the service we offer to our patient by providing clinicians rapid access to stored images and reports, 24 hours a day, seven days a week from any PACS enabled computer connected to our hospital network.

How PACS Works

As a patient undergoes a radiology exam, the images are captured and immediately translated into digital form. Since the images do not require development, they're readily available to be viewed, allowing faster diagnosis and earlier treatment. Whether a physician is at the hospital, office, or home, images can be viewed via hospital intranet or a secure Internet Web site. The images can also be manipulated to give physicians a clearer view of potential problem areas, improving their ability to make diagnoses with confidence.

How PACS Affects You

Though PACS is used to capture radiology images, the technology affects numerous aspects of your care:

(i) Emergency Department (ED)

In the ED, emergency medicine physicians primarily use X-ray and computed tomography (CT) scans to diagnose conditions ranging from broken bones to pneumonia. During emergency situations, every second counts to protect the health and well-being of patients, discussion about a patient's X-ray or CT scan with the radiologist, can now be done faster than ever.

(ii) Physician's Office

PACS enables fellow physicians instant access to our radiology images. PACS also makes tele-radiology possible for referring physicians, radiologists, and specialists. They are able to view the same radiological images from their own computer at different locations or their own offices to discuss the condition of their patient. In the past a patient's X-ray, CT scan, or MRI had to be carried from the clinic to Radiology or vice versa to ask the advice from radiologist.

(iii) Radiology Department

With the volume of growth we've experienced in recent years, it's important to reduce turnaround times for imaging examinations, Imaging technologies like CT and MRI have made great strides in speed and imaging quality, and now PACS allows us to provide reports 3 times faster compared to before.

Prepared by Tan Jui Kok
Radiology Department Manager.