| Have you ever wondered how hospitals manage | | | | 4. Any laboratory test results. |
| all those thousands of patient's records? If you | | | | 5. Radiology images such as cardiology PACS, |
| think about it, that's a lot of paperwork to file | | | | X-rays, CTs, MRIs, etc. |
| away and then find at a moments notice. Well, | | | | 6. Images from endoscopy or laparoscopy or |
| thanks to new and developing technologies in the | | | | clinical photographs. |
| field like scalable PACS, storing and accessing a | | | | 7. Important medication information stored in the |
| patient's medical records has never been easier. | | | | PACS archive, like side-effects and interactions. |
| All those records ranging from x-rays to | | | | 8. Evidence-based recommendations for specific |
| cardiology PACS are now stored on computers. | | | | medical conditions. This is especially true in |
| Electronic health records refer to the digital | | | | cardiology PACS situations. |
| format medical records are now stored as. | | | | 9. Past appointments and other reminders. |
| Electronic health record systems such as PACS | | | | 10. Billing records. |
| and the PACS archive assist in the storage and | | | | 11. Eligibility |
| retrieval of patients' records through the use | | | | Advantages of digital PACS archive imaging over |
| computers. Digital medical images accessed on a | | | | paper records: |
| computer or a scaleable PACS system, often | | | | Medical records were traditionally stored on a |
| over a wide network consisting of many locations | | | | physical means such as X-ray film, paper notes, |
| and sources. You may not realize this but there is | | | | and even photographs instead of digitally such as |
| a large variety of healthcare-related information | | | | cardiology PACS. It was never easy either. The |
| stored and accessed in this PACS manner. | | | | storage of physical documents can be quite |
| There are a number of different types of | | | | problematic, since not all document types fit in the |
| important medical data which can be stored in | | | | same size folders or storage spaces. In the |
| electronic health records. Some of these | | | | current medical environment, patients are |
| electronic medical record would normally include: | | | | undergoing procedures all over the world. Many |
| 1. Demographics of patients. | | | | international patients travel to US cities for |
| 2. A patient's medical history, examination and | | | | specialty treatment. Some even travel to |
| progress reports of health and illnesses such as | | | | participate in clinical trials. Coordinating all of these |
| cardiology PACS. | | | | medical treatments and visits through a paper trail |
| 3. Medicine and allergy lists, along with the status | | | | is a time-consuming, and often dangerous, |
| of immunization shots. | | | | procedure. |