The initial focus of the Vendor-Neutral Archive concept was two-fold [1] to consolidate individual department PACS archives and [2] facilitate data exchange between those PACS. As the concept evolved, so did the complexity of the configuration. Today’s VNA configuration will probably include a pre-fetch and routing application, an HL7 interface, one or more methodologies for acquiring non-DICOM image objects, a QA/QC application suite, a universal viewing application…the list goes on. It is highly likely that a second party is providing one or more of these numerous applications. Different vendors will most likely provide the hardware infrastructure. The system solution package will be comprised of multiple professional services components, which may very well be provided by different vendors.
The composition of the ideal VNA and the specific configuration that best meets the initial and long-term requirements of the healthcare organization will likely be an assembly of best-of-breed components and subsystems from multiple vendors. Therein lies a well-known problem. Multiple vendors means multiple Service Level Agreements and multiple 800 numbers to call for support. Is it possible for a single vendor to offer technology choices, multiple configurations, then actually build and support that custom solution? Can a site-specific, best-of-breed VNA succeed?
Sponsored by an unrestricted grant from Dell Healthcare, I recently completed a white paper that addresses this very subject. The paper was published/released November 27, 2011, on the opening morning of RSNA. You can download a copy of the paper from this web site, or visit the Dell website through this link to find my paper and other related information from Dell.
The paper explores the complexity of the VNA and presents some of the options available to organizations looking for a best-of-breed VNA implementation. It also looks at the profile of an ideal partner that has the software, hardware and services expertise to integrate, deploy and support multiple best-of-breed solutions.
A webinar also sponsored by Dell Healthcare and based on this paper was given on Thursday, November 17, 2011. Follow this link to the Dell web site to retrieve the replay of that webinar.