In our lives, numerous things can cause us stress. As a frequent traveler, I always worry about arriving at the airport on time. I have the joy of experiencing a lot of uncertainty as I travel to and from airports across the country. Last month, flying out of Los Angeles International Airport, I had the opportunity to deal with two unknown variables: traffic and parking. I left early, traffic was light, parking was quick, and I had 2 hours to wait for my flight. Naturally, my flight was delayed by 90 minutes. However, I very easily could have been stuck in traffic, had problems finding parking, waited in a long security line, and walked on my flight as the airline called final boarding. I’ve always felt that you cannot be too early for your flight, but you can be too late.

The same can be said about what those of us at the Thomas Group Ltd (Anaheim, Calif) are seeing in the PACS marketplace today. Too many people seem to be running late for their flights and hurrying to the boarding gates. Because of this pressure, folks are taking shortcuts, which inevitably leads to mistakes or trade-offs. Likewise, it seems that many healthcare facilities today?after having thought about PACS for years?have decided that now might be the time for them to make the investment. And, they want it now! Thus, both the rush and the stress begin.

First, people ask the pertinent questions: Who has PACS? When should they make the purchase? How much should they budget? How should they implement or phase the project? What needs to be done in preparation? What additional costs should they plan to incur? The list goes on and on.

So, what happens next? A facility might decide to look at external events, and then let those events drive the project’s timing. For example, if a facility’s budget is due July 1, those in charge of the PACS project might ask, “It’s April 2. Can I select a vendor and have the final system costs in a few months?” Or, if the funds won’t be available until August, a facility will delay starting or moving forward with the project, feeling that there is plenty of time. Then, they will try to take a 12-month process and jam it into 6 months?or less.

Save yourself the stress and headache by planning ahead. Understand how much time it will take to move forward in a thorough and diligent fashion. Give yourself that time. A planning and preparation process is incredibly important to achieving your facility’s goals.

Today’s marketplace is extremely competitive. Is there one perfect system? Every system is different from the others in several ways. Will more than one product work? Sure. But will one perform better for you, your committee, and your workflow? Certainly! The trick is to find that perfect match. Do not shortcut yourself.

I would counsel you to be aware of what is required to properly perform the investigation and vendor evaluation. Create your committee, and plan together. Devise a realistic timeline of what activities will take place during what time frame, as well as the deliverables to be performed along the way. I recommend that you allow at least 6 months for the project, which involves the following steps:

  1. pulling together a team;
  2. dedicating time to educate yourself and your committee on the technology;
  3. determining the project’s goals and objectives;
  4. designing a PACS;
  5. creating a request for information;
  6. scheduling on-site vendor demonstrations and presentations;
  7. writing a request for proposal;
  8. visiting vendors’ installed sites; and
  9. selecting a preferred vendor for your project.

Keep this point in mind: Once you’ve selected a vendor, you’ve only reached the halfway point. As with most projects, shortcuts later in the game will derail your efforts. Put just as much effort into planning your implementation activities as you did in selecting a vendor. The best selection process can turn bad quickly if you haven’t prepared for the implementation.

Several items need to be completed while your vendor is building your system, such as renovations to transition, network upgrades and drops, power concerns, furniture purchases, and modality upgrades. Get started early on the RIS vendor interface/integration work?without this portion of the project completed and working, you have nothing. Also, preparing for the migration from a hard-copy film environment to a soft-copy read environment is a critical component. Current workflows need to be identified, and post-PACS workflows need to be created.

Finally, you need to announce and market your new technology and plans both internally (to your facility staff) and externally (to the surrounding medical community). How do you do it? When do you do it? Who is your focus? What do you say? (These topics will be discussed in upcoming installments of “Informatics Report.”)

By providing yourself with the time to plan, and by proactively developing your PACS project, you can avoid many of the common project pitfalls. Oftentimes, a project that ends in a successful PACS implementation could have been completed more smoothly had it been started earlier. We’ve all seen the person (or, gulp, been the person) nervously waiting to check in at the airport, pacing in the security line, and then running to the gate to catch the flight?but he or she won’t have any carry-on luggage space in the overhead compartment. You simply cannot be too early. Give yourself the time to exponentially improve your odds of success and reduce your stress by planning properly.

Do you have a question for Michael Mack that you’d like to see answered here in “Informatics Report”? Email your questions to .

Michael Mack is VP of business development at the Thomas Group Ltd (Anaheim, Calif). Having more than 20 years of experience in the medical imaging industry, Mack now specializes in PACS planning and implementation.