HOME BIBLIOGRAPHY CLIENTS CONSULTING SERVICES CONTACT PERSONAL PROFILE PRODUCTS RESOURCES WELCOME Welcome Welcome to Gray Consulting’s new web site. A lot of work went into making the new site a lot easier for visitors to navigate, and a lot easier for me to update with new information. I hope you will find what you are looking for, and please let me know if you have any ideas for making it an even better site. Gray Consulting’s first web site was created back in 2005. At that time, my primary focus was on Radiology PACS and the main focus of the consulting practice was on helping clients understand all of the issues related to PACS, design PACS deployment strategies, and eventually select a vendor/solution. What was true in 2005 is still true in many ways to this day… A Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) is still a very complicated system and its deployment is a very complex process requiring the talent and cooperation of many people working inside and outside of the radiology department. The “right” PACS will dramatically change the way the radiology department works. The “right” PACS will dramatically improve the way the health system treats patients. A successful re-engineering of the radiology department will require working with all of the image users throughout the Health System to develop the best replacement for film and paper. Today, first-time Radiology PACS purchases are a small percentage of new system sales. Since Radiology PACS has been around for some time now, it may seem that the required feature/function set is well understood, a good system is easy to recognize, and an experienced Radiology Director can pretty much identify the “right” system without much (if any) help from a consultant. Nevertheless, Gray Consulting still offers a number of consulting services that will assist the first-time buyer in the specification, design, and selection of the “right” PACS. The associated consulting fees are actually a very reasonable insurance policy. For the organization that wants to write its own Request For Proposal (RFP) there is a simple-to-use and extremely affordable RFP Template available to assist you with your process. In contrast, the vast majority of new system sales are placed by organizations that are now replacing their first, second and sometimes third PACS. Those organizations generally appreciate what they know and what they don’t know about system configurations, product differentiations, workflow redesign, data migration, and very forward-looking data management strategies. For the experienced PACS user, Gray Consulting can offer a series of advanced consulting services that are focused on more complex subjects such as exploring system architectures, interoperability, enterprise-wide system integration, and universal data access through the Physician Portal cross-facility and cross-vendor teleradiology systems, “drop box” or extra-enterprise data exchange. The newest and most exciting segment of imaging is the newly emerging technology commonly referred to as PACS-Neutral Archive (PNA) or Vendor-Neutral Archive (VNA). Gray Consulting has been playing a leading role in the development and publication of this important new technology. I have written numerous blogs and white papers on this subject that can be accessed from this web site. For those organizations ready to take a serious look at the PNA there is the Three-Step Plan focused on Education, PACS Compatibility Assessment, and Data Migration Liability Assessment. You can find details on this consulting program under Consulting Services. For those of you that are ready to evaluate the vendor solutions, Gray Consulting has developed the most extensive RFP on PNA in use today. Field tested in five large scale PNA projects, this RFP teach you everything you need to know about PNA as well as clearly separate the true contenders from the pretenders. You can find details on this RFP program as well under Consulting Services. There are lots of subject information, strategic ideas, white papers and many other tid-bits of useful information on this site, so I encourage you to take a few minutes to look around. And come back again on a regular basis. I publish blogs fairly regularly. Gray Consulting is a sole proprietorship founded in 1991. In the beginning, my clients were many of the major Medical Imaging companies. In 1995 my practice shifted to the providers. Since then I have provided a wide variety of PACS-related consulting services to over 50 Health Systems. My areas of expertise include Market Analysis, Technology Analysis, Strategic Planning, Equipment Utilization, Needs Assessment, Radiology Workflow Analysis, PACS Vendor Analysis/Selection, and PACS System Optimization, and PACS-Neutral Archive. My unbiased and completely ethical approach assures clients receive the full benefit of my experience and expertise without compromise. You should also know that I personally perform all projects, there is no cadre of “associates”. See a list of my Clients Review my Personal Profile and Bibliography For those readers who are looking for information related to deploying a first PACS, the following info pieces provide a glimpse into the many issues surrounding the successful deployment of a PACS. Clink on the subject to link to the write-up. (1) Time Lines (2) PACS is about more than Pictures (3) Not for the faint of heart For those readers who are interested in reading about issues that should be considered while planning for a replacement PACS and for those readers that are ready to investigate the intriguing world of PACS-Neutral Archives, EMR “UniViewers”, Cloud Storage Service offerings, and other emerging technologies, I suggest an immediate jump to my Weblog, where years of posts on these subjects are presented in chronological order. ©2016 Gray Consulting