While productivity and economic advantages are easily measured, pinpointing the impact of PACS on patient outcomes remains an elusive target. In a standard course of patient diagnosis, it may take from two weeks to a month to go through the series of necessary tests, Orr said. First, you have to get an appointment at the modality, which may take several days, then it's a day later before the results are available so your physician can decide what to do next. You go through three or four iterations of this, and you're already two or three weeks into a disease. PACS isn't the solution for speeding up time to diagnose and time to treat.
Some radiologists agree.
Designing a convincing study would be very difficult and possibly unethical, said Dr. Paul Chang, director of the division of radiology informatics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Whether that has an effect on patient care is still debated. We found, for example, that faster availability of images and reports did not shorten the time between requesting the study and the requesting physician reviewing the results. Radiologists have reliable, fast access to prior examinations. Positive effects of PACS on patient outcomes can already be seen in emergency departments, intensive care units, and operating rooms, Horii said, but PACS is just part of the picture, according to Chang.