Personal computers and the internet have revolutionized how everyone communicates, and this has also had an impact in the medical fields. For those hospitals and medical clinics that offer radiology services as part of their orthopedic, chiropractic, veterinary, podiatry, mammography or urgent care specialty, digital imaging has brought several distinctive differences in how medical imaging is used.

PACS system technology that utilizes the internet has played a large part in driving down the costs associated with PACS radiology. Medical facilities of all specializations need a convenient and cost-effective means for allowing and improving communications. The transmission of film x-rays through the postal mail brings with it high costs in terms of film x-ray supplies such as developing chemicals as well as postage. There was a time delay from when the medical image was taken and when it was available to be viewed by primary physicians as well as consulting diagnosticians.

A PACS system that is web-based eliminates most of the time constraints put upon the radiology department. PACS software that is located online means that networking over the Internet is possible. Improved communications among physicians who have a clinical workstation hooked to a local-area network, wide-area network as well as a virtual private network will allow you to send and receive digital images that are saved in DICOM format.

For added convenience, due to the wide use of the DICOM medical digital imaging format, the integration of multiple modalities, including high volume ones such as sixty-four slice CT scanners, MRI, PET, mammography, ultrasound and others, is possible with the digital PACS radiology system in place. This allows medical clinics with specialty radiology services to be able to distribute their medical digital images via the PACS software, which can also function as a router in high-volume situations, back to diagnosing physicians quickly and easily.

PACS software that is web-based can also be used for the archiving of digital medical images. HIPPA regulations require medical facilities to comply with patient confidentiality as well as disaster recovery components, and the PACS system can ensure that this happens. The PACS can be programmed to automatically route the digital medical images taken to local storage at your medical facility as well as send it to an offsite server for storage. The system can also be setup with safety protocols in place such as usernames and passwords needed for access. In these ways, you save time while enhancing the security of your web-based system.

Web-based PACS can be found from online medical imaging distributors.