New buyers of PAC systems represent only a small minority of customers, according to IMV Medical Information Division. The need to upgrade or replace systems is the primary driver in the PACS marketplace, with the lion’s share of purchases going for current-system upgrades.

Full-system purchases may make up only 13% of the planned expenditures regarding PACS from now through 2012, according to the Des Plaines, IL, market research firm. And of these, more than four out of five purchases are being made to replace systems already in place.

With such a small percentage of PACS-related expenditures being spent on full systems, another 73% of the total expenditures are earmarked for expanding and upgrading present PACS, according to IMV. (Editor’s note: Survey results do not account for 14% of planned expenditures because respondents did not explicitly specify their PACS investment plans, according to the company.)

As noted above, the vast majority of purchases of a complete PACS, about 85%, will involve replacement systems, while just 15% of such systems will be purchased by first-time buyers.

In regard to upgrades, the top planned PACS investments are to expand image storage capacity, add PACS workstations and flat-screen monitors, expand network/bandwidth infrastructure, provide advanced visualization software, and offer wireless networking.

The conclusions are based on responses from 314 PACS and radiology administrators/managers to a nationwide survey conducted by IMV. Respondents represented general, nonfederal hospitals with 100 or more beds. Their responses were projected to the 2420 short-term general hospitals of similar size in the U.S. IMV details its findings in a report, released June 24, entitled “The PACS/IT Continuum: Present Access and Future Integration Strategies, 2010-2012.”

PACS has become vital for communicating diagnostic results across healthcare systems and is increasingly being integrated with other healthcare enterprise systems such as EMR/EHR and HIS, according to the company. Some facilities are developing enterprise-wide solutions that integrate PACS with cardiology PACS and data from other specialties.

Report highlights regarding hospitals with 100 or more beds include:

 

  • Only about 16% have PACS implementations in just their hospitals; 84% have implementations in multiple locations;
  • RIS are installed at 93% of hospitals and integrated with PACS or HIS;
  • Top clinical applications accessible from PACS desktops include CT angiography, MR angiography, mammography breast CAD, and CT calcium mapping;
  • 9% have dedicated 3D labs outside of radiology; and
  • 59% have a cardiology PACS.