What is PACS System & How Does It Works with Radiology Information Systems (RIS)?

Whether you are a beginner or have been working in the field of radiology, you must have come across common jargon which may have never been heard by anyone outside the community of healthcare. To many people, this jargon may seem like a foreign language. Two such common jargons in the medical community are PACS (picture archiving and communication system) and RIS (radiology information systems). In this blog, we are going to discuss everything about PACS software and how it works with the RIS Radiology Information system.

What is RIS?

A Radiology Information System is a software system that is primarily used for efficiently managing the process of obtaining, storing and sharing medical imagery in a healthcare context. It is commonly used in conjunction with PACS systems to track images, manage image archives, improve record-keeping and streamline other administrative tasks. As the Radiology Information System software helps improve the workflow, PACS offers the required storage and serves as a long-term option for the management of patient information.

What Is PACS?

Picture Archiving & Communication System, as the name suggests, is a medical imaging technology that is primarily used in the field of healthcare with an aim of securely storing and digitally transmitting electronic images and clinically-relevant reports. A cloud-based radiology PACS is a system that allows all the reports and images in the cloud platform, offering easy access to all the concerned and authorized people in the team. The goal of PACS software is to eliminate the need for manual file storing and sharing. At the same time, it also helps share sensitive information, films and reports without the hassle. At the same time, this software also allows the staff to store medical documentation and images safely using mobile workstations.

In simple words, PACS software is a system that allows radiologists and other healthcare providers to check and share medical images and lab reports digitally. It is an alternative to the conventional way of manually filing, retrieving, and shifting film jackets.

Components of PACS

The following are common components of PACS software.

• Imaging modalities are the first and the main component of a PACS system, which is responsible for doing the actual scanning of a patient in producing a medical image.
• A secure network is another very useful component, which ensures the safety of the database for the image to be uploaded and transferred.
• Workstations for PACS software allow healthcare professionals like radiologists and doctors to view and study the image
• Storage is another prime component of PACS software, which is responsible for storing the image and other supporting documents for better healthcare services.

Advantages of combining PACS with RIS

While it’s very clear that PACS and RIS are the two most important systems that can allow healthcare professionals to ensure better healthcare support with easy access to lab reports and other documents, the following are some of the benefits that not many people may know about combining PACS software with RIS radiology information system:

Organized Patient Data

When you visit a doctor, the first thing your doctor will look at is your previous reports or prescriptions provided so that your medical condition can be better understood. The combination of PACS and RIS software ensures that all the medical reports and other relevant documentations are well organized in order. Now, there is no more need to sift through a pile of paperwork as the healthcare provider can simply access patient files by using the software.

Improved Image Visualization

Improper or unclear images are the last thing your healthcare provider would like to look at.The wide range of tools available in the modern system help a healthcare provider to get an enhanced visualization of images. The radiologist or doctor, for example, can now rotate the images for creating 3D images of tissues, organs, blood vessels and bones.

More Economic

Investing in a PACS and RIS system is a long-term investment. With the help of a cloud-based radiology PACS system, one can easily have a look at the images and lab reports by using software on digital devices. It means there is no need to take the print out of the documents, which means no use of paper, ink, etc. What’s more, you save on not having to pay staff for these services.

Improved Departmental Functioning

Combining PACS and RIS systems allow healthcare documents like lab reports and other scanning images to be stored securely with easy access.

So when you are in the healthcare industry, it makes sense to use the combination of RIS and PACS software for better healthcare services.