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The Dorenfest Institute, managed by the HIMSS Foundation, has released white papaer on PACS, Growth in Use of Picture Archiving and Communications System: A 2000-2008 Study.

This free white paper explores PACS technology and its growth and use as a relevant and important tool in the US healthcare industry. The study uses data gathered from the databases of the Dorenfest Institute and HIMSS Analytics.

A few highlights from the free white paper follow here:

 Image distribution continues to spread outside of the hospital, as more procedures are performed in an outpatient setting and as technology enables users to access images outside of the hospital.

  In 2000, only 8.5 percent of hospitals reported PACS technology installed in their hospitals. By 2008, 3,928 hospitals out of the 5,168 hospitals covered by the data, or 76 percent, indicated that PACS was used in at least one of the modalities, such as digital mammography, covered in the data.

 From 2000 through 2008, the number of vendors marketing PACS systems increased from 53 to 68. The top 10 vendors in the PACS market provided over 80 percent of PACS systems in 2008. 

As noted in the white paper, HIMSS Analytics will continue to broaden its information on the PACS environments in hospitals. PACS image distribution outside of the radiology department, and fully automated radiology PACS modalities, are vital to hospitals achieving a paperless patient record, according to the HIMSS Analytics' EMR Adoption Model. The EMRAM identifies and scores hospitals using an eight-step scale that charts the path to totally paperless environment where patient care is provided without paper records.

"This new PACS white paper offers valuable data on image distribution technology with new research. This research supplements information already available from the Dorenfest Institute and provides more knowledge about how to improve the delivery of healthcare," said Sheldon I. Dorenfest, president/CEO of the Dorenfest Group in Chicago. The Dorenfest Group is a leading consultant and source of knowledge about the healthcare information technology industry.

"The HIMSS Foundation offers its continued support for ongoing research including the new white paper, Growth in Use of Archiving and Communications System: A 2000-2008 Study, said R. Norris Orms, FACHE, CAE, executive director of the HIMSS Foundation. "The archived data available from the Dorenfest Institute offer academic researchers and government agencies throughout the world access to these updated resources. Their research on information technology and management systems applications in healthcare provide new insights that can help improve healthcare delivery with the use of interoperable electronic medical records." 

Source: HIMSS

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