Evaluation of Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS): Radiologists’ perspective

Abstract

Background: Evaluating Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) from the perspective of radiologists can provide valuable insights into the system's strengths and weaknesses, enabling designers to receive feedback and make improvements accordingly. As user acceptance is critical for the successful implementation of information systems, it is important to identify the views of radiologists on PACS. Discovering the users' perspectives can help identify possible system weaknesses and provide feedback to designers. Methods: This cross-sectional survey study involved radiologists and radiology residents working in two teaching hospitals that used different PACS. A total of 138 participants were included in the study using a census method. A standard questionnaire comprising 40 items based on a three-option Likert scale (disagree, no idea, and agree) was used to collect data, which was divided into four sections. After translation, the content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed (CVI>0.9), and its reliability was confirmed by a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.71. The data were analyzed using SPSS software, and the mean score for each item was calculated. The independent sample t-test was used to compare the mean scores of each section between the two PACS. Results: Radiologists identified better education for medical students as the most significant advantage of PACS. Almost 90% of radiologists believed that PACS met their expectations for patient care and improved care delivery. The biggest challenge of PACS was the continued dependence on paper after implementation, rather than being entirely paperless. According to radiologists, PACS B had a more significant impact on patient care and posed fewer challenges than PACS A (P value < 0.01). Conclusions: Based on radiologists' perspectives, PACS improves care delivery and patients' satisfaction compared to traditional film-based systems, while also reducing patient care costs by eliminating the need for film and paper. However, the system faces several challenges, such as poor image quality and slow processing speeds. The use of appropriate infrastructure to implement the system could be one solution to these challenges.

Keywords

• Picture archiving and communication system (PACS)
• Radiology information systems (RIS)
• System evaluation
• Usability evaluation