New facility picture archiving and communication system implementation strategy

Strategies for deployment of picture archiving and communications systems ( PACS) in new hospitals often involve the establishment of initial PACS oper ations. Such a strategy is flawed in the sense that the clinical and radiol ogical users must adapt to PACS operations, while being faced with several other new facility learning curves. This increases the complexity and risk of the radiological services. A strategy of implementing PACS operations in the old facility and performing a zero-downtime transition into the new fa cility offers several advantages to this method. The successful undertaking of such a project will support not only the physical movement of the exist ing PACS, but the accomplishment of other re-engineering goals associated w ith the new hospital. This report will describe the strategy used in two su ccessful transitions of PACS into newly constructed hospitals. Copyright (C ) 2000 by W.B. Saunders Company.