New facility picture archiving and communication system implementation strategy.

Strategies for deployment of picture archiving and communications systems (PACS) in new hospitals often involve the establishment of initial PACS operations. Such a strategy is flawed in the sense that the clinical and radiological users must adapt to PACS operations, while being faced with several other new facility learning curves. This increases the complexity and risk of the radiological services. A strategy of implementing PACS operations in the old facility and performing a zero-downtime transition into the new facility offers several advantages to this method. The successful undertaking of such a project will support not only the physical movement of the existing PACS, but the accomplishment of other re-engineering goals associated with the new hospital. This report will describe the strategy used in two successful transitions of PACS into newly constructed hospitals.