Vendors are also developing software that uses the Internetand intranets as low-cost means of image distribution. PACS vendors integrate imaging with IT Perhaps the most important trend evident in the booths of PACSvendors was the growing integration of PACS products with radiologyand hospital information systems and even telemedicine applications.Vendors realize that in order for PACS technology to achieve widespreaduse, it must be offered as part of an enterprise-wide informationtechnology solution, rather than as a department-level installation. The following pages of Scan Special Report offer a brief reviewof new developments in major modalities that were on display onthe technical exhibit floor in McCormick Place. Other companies discussedtheir plans to develop digital detectors, and medical imagingobservers should expect this market to heat up in 1997. The development of flat-panel digital detectors was also anotable theme, with Sterling emphasizing its work on a 14 x 17version of Direct Radiography, and Fuji countering with advancementson its computed radiography systems. Ultrasound probably experienced the broadest range of new productintroductions, with Hewlett-Packard jumping into radiology ultrasound,Toshiba beefing up its position at the high end of the modality,and Acuson giving the RSNA a look at its Sequoia and Aspen scanners. Fonar appeared at its second straight RSNAmeeting and raised eyebrows by introducing a stand-up MRI scanner,while Siemens discussed its work in developing a dedicated MRIhead system. In the traditional world of new product introductions, Toshiba'snew Opart cryogenless superconducting open MRI scanner was oneof the hottest debuts. Lookfor many vendors to eye ADAC's moves in this area closely as theystrive to identify new markets. Nuclear medicine and information systems company ADAC Laboratoriestook the concept of vendor partnering to a new level with itsannouncement that it has purchased Medical Transition Strategies,a management organization that develops radiology networks. Major new efforts were unveiled by Siemens, Philips,Eastman Kodak, and other companies, with the goal of using theexpertise vendors have developed in reengineering business practicesto help healthcare facilities reduce waste and increase efficiency.These new businesses represent the next step forward from themultivendor service and asset management initiatives that werede rigueur at the 1995 conference. Merging hospitals and radiology groups need PACSand information systems to stay connected, while the same technologieshelp managed-care providers offer quality care more efficiently.īesides PACS, major trends at the 1996 meeting included therapid growth of healthcare consulting businesses operated by medicalimaging OEMs. What's driving interest in PACS? Predictably, the two majorfactors are healthcare consolidation and the ever-growing impactof managed care. The major scanner and film vendors areleaping into PACS with increasing abandon, while smaller companiesare trying to carve out profitable niches without getting steppedon. Interest in imagemanagement exceeded even that of last year's high-water mark,and indicated that rumors of a slowdown in the PACS market havebeen greatly exaggerated.Īt this month's Chicago meeting, PACS finally shed its imageas a boutique technology and took its place as a necessary componentof the radiology department of the future, the glue that holdsthe big iron together. In case anyone is keeping score, the 1996 edition of the RadiologicalSociety of North America meeting marked the second straight yearthat medical imaging's largest conference has been dominated byPACS and related information technology issues. The need for greater efficiency is driving interest in image andinformation management PACS dominates RSNA technical exhibits as healthcare focuses oninformation technology
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