Hospitals are not just acquiring cardiac PACS and cardiovascular information systems (CVIS). More facilities are integrating images and data to give cardiologists a more convenient presentation of test results that factor into diagnosis and patient monitoring, according to a new report from IMV Medical Information Division.
The Des Plaines, IL, market research firm used an online survey to question 200 administrators representing 2,010 U.S. acute care hospitals that perform cardiac catheterizations. It found that 80% of those facilities were equipped with cardiac PACS (CPACS) to display, store, and distribute cardiology-related images, compared with 51% market penetration identified during a similar IMV study in 2007.
During the same three-year period, more hospitals installed CVIS networks and integrated them with their CPACS. Results indicate that 63% of the hospitals providing cardiac services were equipped with CPACS and CVIS last year.
Among sites operating both systems, nearly half reported full integration between their CPACS and CVIS. Another 17% said they are planning for CPACS/CVIS integration in the next three years.
Less progress has been made toward integrating cardiac and radiology PACS. Approximately 45% of the facilities equipped with both CPACS and radiology PACS have yet to integrate any of their common components.
Strong interest
Hospital interest in CPACS equipment acquisition is strong. Approximately 87% of the respondents said their hospital is planning to purchase CPACS or CVIS software or upgrades or undertake integrations in the next three years.
Though the features of CPACS and radiology PACS are similar, CVIS and radiology information systems (RIS) are dissimilar, said IMV analyst Lorna Young in a phone interview. Both handle workflow, billing, and inventory control, but CVIS also involves files and report formats covering the physiological measures of cardiac function, such as hemodynamics and electrocardiogram waveforms, that do not correspond with key features of a RIS.
Fully integrated CPACS/CVIS add cardiac images and functional data from echocardiography, CT, MR, and PET/CT to the mix. They share a common archive infrastructure and databases covering the patient's status from imaging, electrophysiology, cardiac monitoring, and the electronic medical record to assist diagnosis and treatment planning.
"You can pull everything associated with the patient from the dataset," Young said.
The survey uncovered support among hospital administrators for CPACS/CVIS integration. A majority of respondents reacted positively to the suggestion that integration would lead to easier access to patient images, efficient ways to archive images and data, and streamlined methods for physician review of images and functional data.
Common components in an integrated CPACS and CVIS include data archiving infrastructures, and common patient-centric databases and workstations. As expected, echocardiography and cardiac cath were selected as the first two modalities the respondents have addressed or will address with CVIS. Two-thirds of respondents said that it was important for an integrated CVIS to also accommodate interventional angiography, nuclear cardiology, vascular ultrasound, and cardiac CT.
However, Young was surprised that survey respondents ranked interventional angiography -- sophisticated C-arm technology geared toward balloon angioplasty and percutaneous intravascular stent placements -- as a more important priority for integration than nuclear cardiology, vascular ultrasound, cardiac CT, cardiac MRI, and electrophysiology.
"It shows that they are not just interested in heart images," Young said. "The cardiologists' interests extend to images of the entire vasculature."
By James Brice
AuntMinnie.com contributing writer
January 26, 2011
Disclosure notice: AuntMinnie.com is owned by IMV, Ltd.
Related Reading
European PACS market to hit $512M by 2015, November 11, 2010
U.S. PACS market rides on replacement sales, June 25, 2010
Report: Radiology, cardiology PACS still worlds apart, November 6, 2007
European cardiac PACS market shows growth, June 13, 2006
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