New 20th MDG equipment saves time, confusion

Published June 22, 2011
By Airman 1st Class Daniel Phelps
20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C -- The 20th Medical Group here recently received a new McKesson picture archiving and communication system that will help ease the hassle for patients needing their scanned images.

Shaw Air Force Base is the second base in the Air Force to receive the machine, with the first being Edwards AFB, Calif.

"This PACS upgrade will bring the Air Force in line with national and regional archives of x-rays and radiology," said Master Sgt. Danyell Gardner, 20th Medical Support Squadron diagnostics and therapeutics flight chief.

Sergeant Gardner pointed out that the machine will also save a lot of time and confusion for those in the 20th MDG. It will also improve accuracy by almost 80 percent with the scans and save money in film costs and incorrect printouts.

The way the machine works is that after a patient has gone through their radiology scan, the McKesson PACS will send the images to an online data base where the patient's provider can go on the data base to view the patients scan, said Sergeant Gardner.

Under the old system, patients would get a CD of their scan and bring it to their doctor, he continued. Sometimes the CD wouldn't work on the doctor's computer, or they would forget to bring it and the patient would have to come back and pick up a film copy.

The new system will have the ability transmit images to other military locations and create CDs that work on variety of platforms such as Windows and Macintosh.

There will be a six week testing period for the system before it can go "live" and images can be pushed out, commented Sergeant Gardner. Right now, the system is in the testing phase.