Evaluating commercial PACS products for installation in a community based teaching hospital: the customer´s view of reality

The Queen´s Medical Center is a 540 bed tertiary care facility in Honolulu. It is a major teaching hospital of the University of Hawaii, a major trauma facility and cares for approximately 27% of all statewide medical/surgical admissions. In 1997, an internal group having clinical, managerial and technical skills began to evaluate commercial products appropriate to our needs. We quickly found that: cost benefit ratios were difficult to calculate because system costs are difficult to define and benefits to the end users are variable; vendors are unsure as to how to account for their initial start-up consultations, as such initial fees can exceed $100000 for a multi-site facility; much of the research and educational materials presented at clinical (RSNA) and technical/academic (SCAR) meetings are of little or no value in making purchasing decisions; and various vendors appeal to different members of a customer group. The findings of the group after 9 months of evaluation are that one must proceed through purchasing decisions on a step wise basis, recognize that the timetable can be altered by outside forces and allow for both hardware and software failure