Is it a PACS-Neutral Archive or Vendor-Neutral Archive?

I guess that depends on how far back in time one extends the search.  I began writing about a PACS-Neutral Archive back in 2007, and those posts are still available on this web site.  I chose the term PACS-Neutral, because I believed that it best described the focus of the neutrality.  The archive would be neutral with respect to the individual PACS systems that would inter-operate with it.  A key to the Neutral Archive’s ability to exchange data between disparate PACS is the feature now commonly referred to as bi-directional dynamic tag morphing.  In this sense the term PACS-Neutral did not refer to the absence of any vendor preference or vendor logo, it referred to the ability of the archive to effectively exchange data between PACS (systems) from different vendors.

As time moved along, the term Vendor-Neutral Archive emerged.  I am not certain of the initial source or sources of this term, or of the logic behind its creation.  Perhaps it came to be simply because the term PACS-Neutral Archive was already in the literature.  (Branding is such a personal thing to some organizations and individuals.)

I have been told that the term Vendor-Neutral Archive refers to an Archive that is neutral with respect to Vendors.  Presumably that means PACS vendors and Server vendors and Storage Solution vendors, because there is clearly a neutral archive application vendor with a vested interest in the system.

I can almost see and hear Andy Rooney of 60 minutes explaining to us “PACS-Neutral, Vendor-Neutral, it’s the same thing, and why people have to invent multiple names for the same thing is beyond me.”.

So just to go on record, as far as I’m concerned, the two terms are interchangeable, and hopefully none of the vendors (both those with the technology and those without) will mount a sinister campaign claiming that one name refers to a technology that is either superior or more feature-rich than the other.  We’re just getting something going here, so let’s make an effort not to confuse everybody.

Besides, months from now, I suspect we will all be simply using “Neutral Archive”, and we will all know what we mean.  At least that is my fervent hope.

RSNA 2009 Meeting signals beginning of a Paradigm Shift in Medical Image Data Management

Based on my conversations with both the vendors that really have  PACS-Neutral (Vendor-Neutral) Archive technology and those that do not, a significant number of attendees of this year’s RSNA meeting in Chicago (Nov 29 thru Dec 4), were seeking information on the subject.  Numerous motivations were sited for the surge in interest including: time and costs associated with data migrations, difficulty exchanging data between disparate PACS, and the requirement to image-enable an Electronic Medical Record system.  Having written extensively on the subject of  Neutral Archives, I find it encouraging that a growing number of Health Systems large and small are finally “getting it”.

My perception of the overall “buzz” on the subject at this year’s RSNA reminds me of 1992, as seventeen years ago the radiology PACS market had come of age and the degree of misinformation and deliberate obfuscation on that subject during that RSNA was shameful.   As Yogi Berra has said, “It’s deja  vu all over again”.  Numerous vendors that actually do not have Neutral Archive technology were actually claiming at this year’s RSNA that their Radiology PACS could effectively function as a neutral Archive.

Now that the vendors (both the haves and the have nots) are preparing their marketing strategies for Neutral Archive, the industry consultants are also coming out of the woodwork, preparing their statements of work.  It’s a good thing there are some good articles on the subject, so the consultants don’t have to learn the material the hard way.

So I guess if the vendors and the consultants are all over it, the age of the Neutral Archive has arrived.

Accurately defining what constitutes the Neutral Archive should be the next order of business for any Health System with serious interest, and especially for those organizations that have any of a number of problems whose solutions require this technology.  While there are at least ten key feature/functions included in that list, the one most important would be the ability to execute bidirectional dynamic tag morphing.

A good deal of information on this key feature/function has already been written and posted on this web site and on the new web site hosted by DeJarnette Research and I suspect a good deal more will be forthcoming in the next few months.  This time, if we are going to avoid a good number of the missteps and detours experienced in the early years of radiology PACS deployment, we need to make sure that detailed and accurate information on the subject is readily available to the decision makers.  My advice to the interested Health System is simply this, pay attention to the source of information on this important subject and always confirm the information with multiple trusted sources.

And now a word from our sponsor:  Gray Consulting has developed a simple but effective 3-Step Action Plan that will assist a Health System in understanding the subject of Neutral Archives, determine the compatibility of existing PACS with such an archive, and determine the costs of future data migrations that could be avoided.  Contact Gray Consulting for a description of the 3-Step Action Plan and a quote.