As described in our Part 1 blog entry on this topic, we have become aware that many hospitals are in the position of relying on a single device, often a tape library for their PACS image archive. We have worked with a hospital in the upper Midwest to solve this problem, and this blog series shares the results for the benefit of other hospitals which may have the same problem.

In part 1, I described all of the problems that a single tape library for archiving can create for PACS Administrators. In this blog entry, I will describe how we were able to help one hospital in solving this problem by moving the archive from tape to VNA.

What do Hospitals Using PACS have in common?

Many PACS applications offer to solve the problem of tape-based archive, with their own VNA solution. However, hospitals that we have spoken to often have several concerns about this approach. For one, the cost of the PACS vendor VNA is often more than the hospital has budgeted to solve what is perceived as an archive device problem. Secondly, hospitals have concerns about the true vendor-neutrality of a VNA offered by a PACS vendor.  Finally, hospitals recognize that this simply moves the problem to the VNA, and they question whether purchasing the PACS VNA will actually solve the problems associated with specific archive devices.

For these hospitals, our software approach is preferable as our VNA allows them to use multiple archive devices from any vendor for archiving. BridgeHead is a vendor-neutral organization, and supports any type of PACS as well as any brand of storage that a hospital may need – now and seamlessly in the future.

Here’s how it can work:  Instead of archiving the DICOM images directly to tape, the archive process sends the images to BridgeHead using the DICOM protocol.  BridgeHead receives the images, stores them, and then protects them.  When BridgeHead acknowledges receipt of the images to the PACS, the PACS will remove them from the DICOM cache.  If the images are ever needed by the PACS, they can easily be accessed via DICOM Query/Retrieve.

What about images already in the tape archive?

For this, most PACS vendors offer a tape migration service that can “push” the DICOM images from tape to BridgeHead using the DICOM protocol.  As with the archive process, the tape migration process will remove the DICOM images from tape (remove the pointer to them, actually) and instead will note that these images are now archived to DICOMStore rather than to tape.  From that point on the DICOM images can be accessed from the BridgeHead VNA using DICOM Query/Retrieve.

If you would like more information on how BridgeHead’s approach can save you money and the burden of single device archivemanagement for your PACS, please reach out to us. We are happy to answer your questions and help you to find the best solution approach for your hospital.

In part 3 of this blog series, I will provide some FAQs on the topic of archive for PACS images.

In summary, hospitals working with PACS typically archive images to a single archive device, creating unnecessary burdens for already taxed PACS administrators. BridgeHead’s VNA is a low-cost, easy-to-deploy, and truly vendor-neutral solution for hospitals who want to eliminate their dependency on a single archive device PACS DICOM images.