| A Picture Archive and Communication System for | | | | of expensive film and toxic developer chemicals in |
| Radiologists, or RIS PACS is a vitally necessary | | | | cumbersome labs. By 2001, the OSU Medical |
| tool for every oncology department today - and | | | | Center was realizing cost savings of over a million |
| with the dramatic fall in the cost of computer | | | | dollars a year through the employment of its RIS |
| hardware, there is no reason why every health | | | | PACS. |
| care facility should not have one. Such PACS | | | | It was more than dollars that the Center has |
| systems are based on the same personal | | | | saved; PACS systems have also saved nearly |
| computer technology with which you are already | | | | 7,000 physician work-hours per year. Using PACS |
| familiar - so there is no steep learning curve. If | | | | workstations, physicians were able to reduce the |
| you are among the few who are not familiar with | | | | time between initial patient visit and case dictation |
| this remarkable technology, or are a physician in | | | | to under three hours. |
| private practice or the administrator of a small | | | | Affordable Technology |
| hospital who has been reluctant to invest in a RIS | | | | Back when the OSUMC installed its RIS PACS, this |
| PACS because of cost, read on. | | | | new technology cost several million dollars. |
| Proven Technology | | | | However, the same trends that have forced |
| The one of the first PACS systems in the U.S. | | | | down the cost of computer technology in general |
| was the RIS PACS at the Ohio State University | | | | has also affected the cost of these systems; it is |
| Medical Center Radiology Department back in | | | | possible to outfit a small clinic with a RIS PACS, |
| 1991. Within a decade, the use of these | | | | including workstations, for as little as $5000. |
| workstations had eliminated the need for the use | | | | |