Canadian health care is almost filmless

18.09.2009

Key factors in the decision to go with Agfa's technology was its compatibility with solutions from other providers and its experience in other countries, said Dr. Paul Langis, assistant radiological department director at Hôpital Saint-François d'Assise, one of the three hospitals within the CHUQ system.

"Agfa seemed to offer the best solution since its technology suited our needs and responded to the different evaluation criterions. For the radiologists, the version tested was easy to use, user friendly and was answering our performance need," said Langis in an e-mail interview.

Deployment was fast and progressive, according to Langis. "We were well prepared and the Agfa support team was onsite to help our PACS managers and the IT team. The implementation was successful and the healthcare professionals were fully able to use the system after only six weeks," he said.

The main benefit, according to Langis, is the ability to access current and prior exams within seconds for comparison or follow-ups. "We have made a major gain in productivity at this level. In addition, clinicians didn't have to move around from department to department in order to view images and wait for an employee of the film archive department to find the film they are looking for," he said.

Langis also found the solution intuitive, which "makes it easy for radiologists to use the systems and understand the basis."