Pros of PACS
Following are some of the benefits or advantages of using picture achieving and communication system or cloud based PACS.
1. Improves Patient Care
There is no doubt that PACS is being accepted in hospitals these days for its many benefits. It is very effective when it comes to improving patient care. Data management and handling medical images become easier which also improves the quality of patient care.
2. Reduces Diagnosis Time
There was a time when it took too long to diagnose various diseases. Even many were diagnosable. But with the use of PACS, doctors and radiologists are able to detect the diseases and identify them accurately. All this is also possible in a short time which helps in saving many lives and offering better treatment.
3. Improves Internal Efficiency
Hospitals used to have mess of files and documents to maintain patient data and hospital records. Now all is gone. This digitized system has helped the hospitals improve internal efficiency and perform better tasks in shorter time period. In less time, more patients are served.
4. Helps in Sharing and Transmission
Dating sharing and transmission has always remained a problem for hospitals and healthcare sector. But thanks to cloud based PACS which has offered new opportunities to share data from one department to another and inter-hospital transmission is also possible with this system.
5. Reduces Treatment Costs
The direct impact of all these factor is on the treatment cost. Patients are provided cheaper but quality treatment. Hospitals are better managing their clients and offering them low-cost health services.
Cons of PACS
After discussing the pros, now we will discuss what kind of disadvantages PACS has. Some of these are given below.
1. Problems in Adoption
One of the serious problem with cloud based PACS pricing is that its adoption is hard at the moment. Maybe in future, the healthcare sector is able to adopt the new technology in more professional and better manners. But at the moment, adoption of PACS poses serious challenges.
2. Financial Costs
PACS is one of the most expensive data management system for the hospitals. Individuals are unable to afford it. There are not enough third party vendors who can develop the systems in partnership with the hospitals to cut down its costs and make it more affordable.
3. Implementation Issues
As said earlier, adoption and implementation are the major issues. If it is adopted, utilization and implementation of PACS becomes tougher for the low scale hospitals and private clinics.
4. Needs Special Hardware
In order to use PACS in a hospital, special screens and monitors are required. The heavy hardware requirement is a challenge which still remains unaddressed. Costs of the hardware is also a problem for the healthcare sector.
5. Maintenance and Repair
When you have spent huge amount of money on a data management system, it also needs special teams for monitoring as well as repair and maintenance. This is not easy at this moment of the time. Hiring teams adds to the costs of this system.
