Matthew D. Ralston MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Robert Coleman BS, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Mike Dumas, Abstract Co-Author: Employee, Agfa-Gevaert Group

Steven Zabrocki BS, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

David M. Beaulieu BS, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Alexander Szafran BS, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Todd Perkins MA, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

David M. Beaulieu BS, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

et al, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

In Maine, we have an ongoing effort to integrate several disparate hospitals and imaging centers into a single PACS. Others may learn from our experience, and may be encouraged by our results.

In implementing the shared PACS project, one of the most significant challenges has been properly identifying patients from multiple organizations, and linking together exams for patients who have visited multiple organizations participating in this project. --Benefits and challenges of the Master Patient Index functionality, and the related interfaces and workflows, we will outline the following: --Bandwidth challenges --Interpersonal issues at multiple levels of all participating organizations, change management, encouraging voluntary participation in a complex endeavor --Pricing the service appropriately --Routing multiple outside RIS’s through our host MMC RIS, and the related interfaces --Getting results to flow out to all sources that need to have the results --Merging patient identifiers in multiple systems --Rolling out a shared, uniform dictation system among disparate business entities

Maine Medical Center, MaineHealth, and the MMC Radiology Informatic system have successfully integrated approximately 10 different business entities into a single, tightly integrated combination RIS/PACS/Dictation system. Using the multi-institutional capabilities of our PACS and RIS, along with custom built interfaces to the RIS systems at the remote sites, we have successfully combined studies from different imaging centers and hospitals into a single, unified archive, such that any radiologist at any participating site has automated and robust access to pertinent prior studies of the same body part from anywhere else in our system.

Although quite difficult to accomplish, it is worthwhile for separate imaging centers in a geographic area to share archive in a unified and mutually satisfying manner.

We have achieved a shared PACS system in which every radiologist at any participating institution has the prior comparison exam show up automatically in PACS, regardless of where it originated.

Ralston, M, Coleman, R, Dumas, M, Zabrocki, S, Beaulieu, D, Szafran, A, Perkins, T, Beaulieu, D, et al, , Sharing of a Single Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) by Several Disparate Hospitals and Business Entities.  Radiological Society of North America 2006 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 26 - December 1, 2006 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2006/4430498.html