Kevin William McEnery MD, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Charles T Suitor MS, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

S. Jeff Shepard MS, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

William A. Murphy MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

In late 2000, our institution decided to implement a Picture Archive and Communication System (PACS) based upon an Application Service Provider (ASP) model. Having completed a successful transition to filmless operation, we compare the estimated implementation and operations cost of the ASP-PACS versus a traditional capital purchase (CP) PACS system.

We compared the actual and anticipated costs of an ASP-PACS with the business-plan budget of a partially implemented CP-PACS for the years 2001-2006. Workstation distribution differed between the ASP-PACS and the CP-PACS. The ASP-PACS project deployed 82 workstations in Diagnostic Imaging (DI) and 3 workstations outside DI. The planned CP-PACS required 140 additional workstations in the hospital and clinics. These supplementary workstations were not necessary for the ASP-PACS due to full-featured image viewing client software. Purchased ASP-PACS workstation sets consisted of gray scale dual flat panel monitors with an additional 18” LCD color monitor. Two and four monitor cathode ray tube (CRT) sets were planned for the CP-PACS system.

The six-year costs for ASP-PACS is approximately $13.6M comprised of $2.0M workstation capital and service costs and $11.6M operational costs for 1.54 million imaging examinations. The comparable cost for CP-PACS was approximately $32.1M comprised of $21.6M workstation capital and service costs, and $10.6M for image archive capital and service costs. Total savings was $18.5M accounting for $19.6M in savings attributable to the reduced cost and operation of workstations of the ASP-PACS.

Adoption of an ASP-PACS system resulted in substantial cost savings estimated at $18.5 million, largely attributed to fewer, less expensive workstations purchased directly from suppliers as a commodity. In a large PACS deployment, at our institution, the implemented ASP-PACS system realized substantial cost savings compared to the planned CP-PACS.

McEnery, K, Suitor, C, Shepard, S, Murphy, W, Cost Comparison of Application Service Provider PACS versus Capital Purchase PACS: MD Anderson Cancer Center Experience.  Radiological Society of North America 2004 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 28 - December 3, 2004 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2004/4415562.html