Hussein Alsayiegh

PACS Project lifecycle

One of the big mistakes hospitals; unfortunately, fall into is considering PACS/RIS as modality. I can count tens of reasons why not to consider PACS/RIS as a modality.

In fact, PACS/RIS are full systems. They are part of the infrastructure of the hospital. They are the backbone !

Thus starting implementation of PACS without planning is another big mistake. Actually, PACS implementation is a project .. No .. No !! It's a huge project indeed.

in VVB (remember! Very Very Basic) we can simplify the whole lifecycle of a project in three phases.


Project LifeCycle

1. Study phase: i.e, study of hospital needs of storage capacity, study of hospital workflow and fetching throughput. I will talk more about the study phase in detail in the next lesson.
2. Design phase: Implementation of PACS on paper by listing all components and spects not biased to any vendor solution.
3. Execution phase: physical implementation on ground by installing agreed on components.


Project Implementation Body

In fact, each project phase is recommended to be implemented by a separate entity. Table below shows implementing body for each phase

Phase	Implementing body
Study	End user / Consultant
Design	Consultant
Execution	Vendor

Note: As far as I know, in all PACS implementations in Kuwait, the three phases where implemented only by a single body "THE VENDOR".. So from that you can deduce how dangerous is this. Vendor's interest is to make optimal profit.


Project Lifecycle -- In Detail

In fact, each phase (of the three above) is a project by itself and each can be divided into five sub-phases.

sub-phase 1. Project Initiation: i.e, forming team, delegating assignment.
       =      2. Planning: i.e., specifying project-phase schedule. Writing down steps to target.
       =      3. Implementation: execution of the phase tasks.
       =      4. Control and follow up: i.e., Quality assurance to make sure that implementation is going on time.
       =      5. Handing over: making sure that tasks where completely done, and to make sure that all requested
                   needed documents were handed over.

Summary
In summary, PACS projects should start buy studying your needs which can be done by either the hospital itself or by a PACS consultant. Design phase is usually implemented by same previous body. Last phase (execution) is implemented by the vendor.

Next Lesson:
Knowing your needs is first project phase.