In an article written over a year ago, I called the integration of RIS and PACS the "Holy Grail" of the industry. There have been numerous attempts by PACS companies to create their own RIS, and a few RIS companies have added PACS, though the latter often seek out existing products which are added on almost as an afterthought.
While I am no fan of Fuji Synapse, it does have a very significant presence in the marketplace, but as yet, it has no RIS of its own. Well, that's about to change, at least for sites with lesser demand, such as imaging centers and the like (those that remain standing after DRA-2005 takes effect, that is). Fuji will work with Empiric Systems to provide a combined RIS/PACS package targeted at the outpatient market. Just how tight the integration will be remains to be seen.
I use Empiric's leading Encompass.NET web-based RIS, and I am a big fan of this product. I hope no one takes offense, but I consider it the Amicas of RIS systems. Its interface is very clear and easy to use, even though it does have the power to do everything I need it to do. It may not be up to running a full hospital enterprise, but in reality, it really isn't far from having such capability. It has integrated quite well with our Amicas PACS.
When adding a significant chunk of programming to a big product, it is always hard to decide whether to write the functionality from scratch, or to simply acquire it from someone else. I do believe Fuji made a very wise choice by bringing in a best-of-breed RIS to do the job, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. Maybe they will continue the trend of good decisions when it comes time to revamp their interface.....
5 comments :
I believe that Fuji is writing their own RIS product. they have been showing this functionality over the past couple of shows. I would guess Empiric is a outpatient based solution. Not sure if permanent or stop gap.
I think that workflow should be seperated out from the reporting of the RIS-centric view. These are discrete functional elements bottled up for legacy convenience.
I agree integration will happen (has happened in some parts of the UK), but it there will be fundamentally new building blocks.
Fuji is developing their own product and has been for a couple of years, and it is highly likely another couple of years will go by until it sees the light of day. Meanwhile, they can't compete in the out-patient setting or small hospital setting today w/o a solution, hence the Empiric selection.
Stop gap, maybe...but if you drop by the Fuji Booth at RSNA, and preview the product, you won't be able to tell which application is which, as everything is driven from the Synapse PowerJacket User Interface.
stopped by the booth, and fuji is still attempting to write something new for ris. they would have been better buying a ris 4 years ago, this would have been all behind them by now. what they are left with is marketing agreements which are not worth the paper or websites they are written in/on.
I heard about the Empiric Fuji deal and am very excited. We are going to dump our IDX soon and now we may be able to go with Empiric. Hearing it get good reviews from the Dali may not count for much, but knowing he is a Fuji critic, it does mean something.
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