| the advent of regular postal deliveries changed | | | | down dramatically. Although PACS has been |
| communications drastically, so has the use of the | | | | around for a while, it was typically only available to |
| Internet and the World Wide Web. With the use | | | | the largest hospitals and facilities because the cost |
| of electronic communications, including digital | | | | of the software and equipment were out of |
| imagery and other types of data, communications | | | | reach for smaller facilities. Because all computer |
| are now much quicker and more cost effective. | | | | technology has come down in price over the |
| A web-based PACS brings this type of lightning | | | | years, this has had an beneficial impact on the |
| speed and ease of use to a medical facility as | | | | cost of purchasing a pacs server and software. |
| well. | | | | Another reason that medical offices are upgrading |
| PACS RIS are two related software and | | | | to pacs on the web is the speed it offers. It was |
| hardware systems that are used on computers. | | | | not that long ago that images were taken on film, |
| PACS means picture archiving and | | | | which then took time to be developed. After this, |
| communications system, and RIS stands for | | | | if a consultation was necessary, the films would |
| radiology information system. The PACS RIS | | | | have to be sent by postal mail to the consulting |
| system may be a mini-pacs system format or it | | | | physician. This was a very time consuming |
| could be a web-based pacs. A pacs server and | | | | process, but thankfully it can be speeded up |
| software system are known as a mini-pacs when | | | | considerably with the use of the Internet. Now |
| they are used to read only one type of image | | | | digital medical images can be translated by the |
| modality, such as mammograms, rather than | | | | pacs server quickly using the DICOM format, and |
| digital images taken from multiple modalities. PACS | | | | those images can be sent in seconds rather than |
| on the web uses secure transmission provided by | | | | days to physicians located nearly anywhere in the |
| a secure socket layer or a virtual private network | | | | world for consultations. This has also enabled |
| to allow transmission of digital medical images and | | | | better teaching experiences for medical students, |
| other data over the Internet. RIS takes radiology | | | | who can now be exposed to a vast array of |
| digital images and data and allows that information | | | | digital images via the Internet as well. |
| to be stored, distributed, and archived. | | | | In order to save money and time, it makes sense |
| One reason why medical facilities, especially small | | | | to upgrade to a web-based PACS RIS or |
| and mid-sized ones, are switching to PACS on the | | | | mini-pacs system. |
| web is that in recent years the price has come | | | | |