A beginner's guide to the PACS system

When you go into your local hospital for a medical checkup or scan of some sort, you are most likely to be treated using a PACS system. While most people might receive treatment administered by the hospital such as a scan or an ultrasound, the actual work that is done in the hospital is carried out behind the scenes by the PACS system.

Most hospitals today use picture archiving communication systems that include the ability to archive medical records such as x-ray images, ultra sound results and other critical information using the systems many parts. The PACS system is actually a network of systems that together make up the main system. There are imagining devices such as x-ray scan machines, MRI and ultrasound systems that collect and receive digital images from the patient. There are also workstations or heavy duty computer systems that are located strategically throughout the hospital so that medical staff with the relevant authority and access codes can access the image storage and processing unit. This network together is called a picture archiving communication system. When a patient is taken in for a scan of any kind, the imaging systems are used to receive and transmit images to the medical archiving server or computer that stores the images. Once the images are stored, medical staff can access the images and information either from the workstations or remotely from their private connections if they have authorization.

As a patient, your records are kept securely and will only be shared with relevant people. If you are going in for a medical scan, whether it be for a sickness or some hereditary condition of some sort, the hospital will use medical archiving to access and retrieve information on you and your health background. Medical science claims that several diseases and sicknesses are hereditary and since the hospital and medical staff need access to the medical records, a Pacs system can save on a lot of searching and looking for information. To monitor and update a patient’s medical results is fairly simple, as all the information is computerized and accessible via the digital storage and communication service known as the pictures archiving communication system, which is basically an in-hospital computer network.

Today, there are many advancements that have been made on the original picture archiving communications system first introduced in the early 1980s. Nowadays, most hospitals use a modern version of the PACS system. Many medical staff are trained to use the PACS system, and you can be sure that your information and records are archived and kept safe.