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Deploying a PACS: Issues to consider

Application Service Provider PACS: Analyzing Costs of Service

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Application Service Provider PACS: Analyzing Costs of Service

Part 2

In a system architecture in which the application software is individually installed and then permanently resides on the respective client and server components, the client and server components are said to be fat. Anyone paying attention to the memory requirements of today’s personal computing applications will appreciate this concept.

In contrast, a thin client (computer) takes possession of neither the application software nor the image data. The application and the image data are on a server. The application requested by the user is actually executed on the file server. Only the result of that operation (for example, a four-on-one display of window-leveled CT images) is transferred to the thin client and displayed on its monitor. In this case, thin means that the client computer can be thin on local memory, thin on disk space and thin on processor power. The thin-client concept is exemplified by the World Wide Web server that feeds information to the web browsers of users.

There are many who believe that the brightest future for PACS will be seen when thin-client computing systems are used for this purpose. This will represent is a major departure from the world of diagnostic display stations and file servers that require hundreds of gigabytes of storage and cost millions of dollars to own and operate. To appreciate the difference, imagine a PACS configuration that is based on a large computer that never goes down. It is located in a building far away and staffed day and night by hundreds of information-services technicians. No single institution could afford this behemoth and its staff, but it is shared with hundreds of other users. Display stations for the hospital must be purchased, but these are just desktop computers with good displays.

The ASP is the owner of the behemoth, along with its application software, and is the employer of its maintenance staff. In this futuristic scenario, the computer is also the ASP, because it is the only source of all the application software required to make it a PACS. This version of the ASP is not available today.