TIME LINES
How long does it take to do it right?
Proper planning prevents poor performance
The process for mapping out an image and information management plan is rather involved.
It is appropriate to observe the current workflow in radiology and determine what changes will be affected by the PACS. That means observing how the Technologists, Clerical staff and Radiologists do what they do. How is the RIS used today, and how will that change? How should that change? How is study QC done today, and how will that change?
How will paper be used after the PACS, and how will its information be captured and managed by the PACS?
In order to determine the best data storage solution, it is necessary to collect study data and convert it to digital equivalents. What are the daily, weekly, yearly digital equivalents of the new studies, and what are the digital equivalents of the relevant priors? What is your projected growth in each of the imaging areas? What level of compression will you use for new studies, priors, and the legal archive?
How will you role out the digital display technology to the referring physicians? What kind of services will you provide them to help them with this major adaptation to your new system? Discussing the possibilities or pre-selling the intended solution is a necessary and touchy project.
The technology of PACS is still quite complicated, and that technology is constantly changing and evolving. Regardless how many individuals are responsible for selecting the system and the vendor, those making the decisions should have a reasonable level of knowledge on the subject. There are numerous ways to go about gaining this education. Requests For Information (RFI) and Requests For Proposal (RFP) projects have been used by many organizations to learn about PACS technology (the RFI) and subsequently make a vendor selection (the RFP). Each of these projects have their own Time Line
Properly done, each phase of the process from planning through vendor selection can last 3 to 4 months.
- Planning - 4 months
- RFI - 3 months
- RFP - 3 months
That's assuming of course that you are starting from scratch, that you have done little or no data collection, workflow mapping, physician interviewing, or investigation of the underlying PACS technology. Good preparation can significantly reduce the amount of time and effort required in the formal Planning and Vendor Selection projects.
So it is important to plan early, get started early and schedule the project before time has run out to do the job right.
