STATE-OF-THE-ART X-RAY EQUIPMENT FOR  THE CANBERRA HOSPITAL

The 2005–06 ACT Budget provides $2.5 million for the implementation of a state-of-the-art imaging system for The Canberra Hospital (TCH), the ACT Minister for Health, Simon Corbell said today.

The system, Picture Archival Communication System (PACS), will replace the current film based imaging service involving the development, distribution and storage management of hardcopy medical images.

“PACS will provide the hospital with the digital capture, storage, viewing, distribution, manipulation and printing of medical images,” Mr Corbell said.

“The timely production and availability of the medical images and associated reports will facilitate more efficient communication between clinical staff, in or outside the hospital, and the Medical Imaging Department, significantly improving patient care and management.”

Mr Corbell said the implementation of PACS would overcome the majority of the inherent issues with conventional film-based systems and provide major clinical benefits to ACT Health as a whole and to the Medical Imaging Department. 

These benefits would include: 
•	a decrease in the number of delayed and re-scheduled appointments due to films being unavailable;
•	faster and more accurate diagnoses resulting in reduced time to initiate clinical action;
•	more timely delivery of clinical results and interpretation resulting in better patient management;
•	the ability to distribute a single image to multiple locations simultaneously will have the effect of eliminating the need for repeats;
•	potential reduction in average length of patient stay; and
•	potential improvements in overall health outcomes.

It is also hoped the new system will attract and retain senior clinical staff.

“PACS will be utilised by all hospital clinicians and accessed via the ACT Government network,” he said.

“It will be web-enabled to allow remote access to health professionals including to referring clinicians, Visiting Medical officers (VMOs), other hospitals in the ACT region and Community Health.  
The PACS project is scheduled for completion in the 2006-2007 financial year.