Having no backups is a recipe for disaster — literally. If a natural or man-made disaster strikes and ruins the images on your picture archiving and communication system (PACS), you would have absolutely no recourse. And yet, a good number of health care facilities we speak to seem to be taking this risk daily.
To a certain degree, many health care professionals see their picture archiving and communication system (PACS) as being a technology limited by geography, where access to medical imaging studies is only available in their facility via a computer that is specifically designated for that purpose.
This is a guest post by Jyotin Gambhir, of SecureFLO, based in Arlington, Massachusetts.
Security is a crucial topic of conversation when discussing picture archiving and communication system (PACS) options. Image-based medical records are not only considered sensitive information that requires special handling, they also hold value from a cyber security perspective, as hackers and other threat actors seek to obtain secure medical information.
Given that these concerns can translate into significant regulatory, business and legal problems for health care facilities, security around PACS and medical image sharing is a critical conversation to have - but where should you start?
In recent years, many cutting-edge radiology facilities that perform breast imaging have begun offering a new imaging technology called digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) in addition to or in place of standard mammography exams.
In every industry, there are all-in-one software vendors that create integrated solutions designed to address a wide range of problems simultaneously. While their solutions benefit from their seamless integration, the functionality of each of the individual components usually is not as good as the stand-alone vendors.
