Review article: some cost-benefit considerations for PACS: a radiological perspective.

Some cost-benefit considerations for a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) are discussed in relation to a hospital-wide PACS. The acquisition of plain radiography by phosphor f2p4ing plate technology (currently state of the art computed radiography), the soft copy display of the clinical history and radiological reports in association with the corresponding images, and the retrieval and simultaneous display of past with current images, are all considered to be integral to a true PACS. Cost-benefit considerations for a PACS extend far beyond the purely economic issues. More important and far reaching consequences relate to efficient data management provided by a PACS properly interfaced to hospital and radiological information systems. The hardware required to install and operate a hospital-wide PACS is now ubiquitously available and its performance has been amply demonstrated by a number of filmless hospitals. Software design and implementation is now the outstanding consideration determining the clinical and, in particular, the radiological benefit of a PACS.