New Visage 7 PACS application enhances imaging across UK HealthCare

On December 8, UK HealthCare implemented Visage 7 PACS, the radiology cloud-based Picture Archive Communication System.

This upgrade replaces the legacy PACS system — providing significant imaging improvements for clinicians, radiologists and patients across the UK HealthCare system.

It also marks an important milestone in the modernization of UK HealthCare’s imaging system.

PACS technology stores and displays medical imaging like CT scans, X-rays and mammograms.

One advantage clinicians should notice immediately is the speed of the new PACS system.

“Clinicians should be able to pull up and scroll through images without running into delays,” said Medical Director of Imaging Informatics at UK HealthCare Stephen Hobbs.

As medical studies continue to grow, which require storing and maintaining large images, upgrading to Visage 7 allows scalability for future growth.

“As we’ve grown considerably over the past few years, our existing system has really struggled to keep up with expanding volumes and larger studies,” Hobbs said. “Visage allows us to scale much better as we continue to expand locally; and down the line, it offers much better opportunity for integrating other systems into ours as well with King’s Daughters and Saint Clair.”

Because Visage PACS is cloud-based, it improves redundancy and provides faster performance and easier access.

In addition to faster image loading, users will also see smoother navigation throughout the system.

Previously, multiple applications comprised the PACS system.

“With Visage, there’s a singular experience,” Hobbs said. “The app clinicians use is the same one radiologists use.”

Upgrading to Visage 7 is the first step in modernizing imaging storage, Hobbs said. 

Although not all legacy data will be migrated immediately, its capabilities help clinicians prepare for patient visits.

“Visage is smart enough to pull studies ahead of time and anticipate when patients are showing up for their appointments,” Hobbs said. “So, all of that data should be readily available for clinicians when they need to access something.”