Blog
vna vs pacs featured image
decorative top

VNA vs PACS: Comparing the Differences

Author:
RamSoft
Published:
April 27, 2022
Reading time:
7
minutes

Essentially, a VNA is tooled for data migration (a “backend” system) and a PACS facilitates data capturing, arranging, archiving, and sharing of medical image files (the “front-end”). Where PACS is intended to enhance workflow with attention to storage and retrieval, VNAs are geared towards long-term backup and archiving, sans vendor proprietary constraints.  

Did you know…? Experience seamless connectivity and set a foundation for faster, empowered care by consolidating your existing PACS and VNA systems with OmegaAI, the world’s first Imaging EMR.

To provide a comprehensive understanding of this topic, this article will review the definitions for PACS and VNA each, followed by an examination of a comparative analysis of the differences between these two medical imaging solutions:

  • What is a PACS?
  • What is a VNA?
  • The Differences between PACS and VNAs 
1-Revamp-PACS-vs-VNA.png

What is a PACS?

PACS stands for Picture Archiving and Communication System, and it is a medical imaging technology that allows for the preservation and retrieval of digital pictures produced by various imaging modalities. It removes the need to physically file, retrieve, and ship film jackets by transmitting digital pictures and reports electronically.

Discover key considerations in choosing the right radiology EMR software.

OmegaAI Vendor Neutral Archive VNA Interface

What is a VNA?

A Vendor Neutral Archive (VNA) is a technology used predominantly in medical imaging that stores medical image files and clinically relevant information in a standard format via a standard interface, allowing authorized healthcare practitioners vendor-neutral access regardless of the proprietary image-generating system employed.

 

The Differences between PACS and VNAs

Necessitating the use of VNAs is a combination of the limitations of PACS systems as well as the rising demand for a mechanism to view unstructured data expediently across an interconnected delivery network. For organizations undertaking truly transformative patient-centric care, it is good practice to consider these key differences between PACS and VNA systems:

Features

Provided below is a snapshot of the features PACS and VNAs each offer:

GUIDE FOR PACS

Basic  features include:

• Web  accessibility
• Modification of patient, study, and image data
• Query  and retrieval
• Storage capacity
• DICOM  compatibility and file processing
• Digitization and CD burning options

Advanced  features include:

• RIS/EMR integration
• Dictation, transcription, and voice recognition
• Study  lifecycle management
• Auto-routing for DICOM
• Image  viewing and sharing

GUIDE FOR VNA

Though  may be varied across vendors, common features include:

•  Interface designed for optimal intuitive user experience
•  Accidental data deletion recovery
• Login  and security management for IT
•  External data support (e.g., DICOM, non-DICOM hardware and universal viewers,  etc.)
•  Vendor-neutral storage
•  Dual-site configuration for protection against failures occurring in one  system (e.g., between two data centers)

Key Users

While both PACS and VNA solutions are used prolifically among healthcare providers, each can address the specific needs of various user environments. Enterprise-scale organizations and hospitals can leverage the VNA’s innate interoperability to seamlessly interconnect with and exchange data between multiple departments and their existing PACS systems. 

On the other hand, smaller medical imaging facilities (such as x-ray clinics) that do not operate with different departments can ordinarily be sufficiently serviced by a PACS.  

Capabilities and Limitations

To help understand more deeply the differences between what a PACS and VNA may offer in terms of their capabilities and limitations, we’ve included a snapshot comparison outlining key points for each:

PACS

The  main function of PACS is to store medical images and data and make them  available for end-users.

PACS is  required for the display and manipulation of SOP class/DICOM objects.

In general, there are “blind spots” regarding interoperability in PACS systems.

PACS can store radiology SOP Classes.

Data migration tends to be more difficult for PACS systems.

Single point of integration is an issue for PACS systems.

Typically,  there is no single point of access offered in a PACS system. Information is  siloed; physicians need to access multiple departmental workstations/systems  individually to view a patient’s data, which proves times consuming for  users. However, some current in-market medical imaging solutions, such as  RamSoft’s Imaging EMR, OmegaAI, can consolidate existing PACS systems to  provide a single point of access.

Vendors  add their own tags (into their own software); however, these tags are  generally unreadable across other vendor-specific PACS platforms. There is a  proprietary DICOM viewer dependence with a PACS system. Hospitals are unable  to employ DICOM readers of their choosing since only a native tool included  with the PACS can ensure proper image processing.

PACS systems are built specifically for radiology workflows.

VNA

By  definition, it is a medical archiving system that stores and makes medical  images and data available for end-users while following industry-accepted  standards and formats.

VNA can store all SOP classes/DICOM objects as well as display and manipulate these  by way of preserving standard formats.

VNA enable consistent file readability despite organizations switching vendors.  Additionally, they facilitate agile data sharing in organizations utilizing  multiple PACS systems.

Enterprise VNA’s can store all department’s SOP Classes. Also, there are radiology VNAs.

VNAs are optimized and designed for data migration.

VNAs can offer a single point of integration for all PACS and other  hospitals/healthcare systems (RIS, EHR, HIS, etc.) connected to a network,  thereby “solving the problem” of PACS.

Pertaining  to Image Lifecycle Management (ILM), VNAs support auto-delete functionality  which can be utilized upon the legal retention period expiration of  applicable data. VNAs are built to support locally customizable rule-based  purging (culling) criteria and utilize storage tiers towards maximizing  archiving capacity and data viability for the long-term.

VNAs consolidate every system and department to enable a unified viewing  experience, no matter where images originate from.

VNAs standardize DICOM tags for inter-system compatibility.

VNAs operate in compliance to new and legacy data transmission and retrieval  industry-specific standards (FHIR, HL7, etc.), including those related to  enterprise imaging.

VNAs provide versatility in processing a vast spectrum of file types including  DICOM, non-DICOM, multimedia, XML, PDF, raw data generated by modalities,  etc.

VNAs are a better option for encounter-based imaging, as patient encounter is  prime in current medical imaging environment.

Advancing accelerated, patient-centric care with OmegaAI

Elevate your patient care delivery with superior speed, exceptional scalability, and outstanding ease of use.

Take a Leap Forward 

Pricing

Evaluating pricing between implementing a PACS versus a VNA solution is dependent upon whether a healthcare organization is planning a “PACS first” or a “VNA first” approach.

Enterprises planning the conventional approach to radiology – PACS first – face a ballpark estimated investment of between $5K–$100K* (contingent on facility size) on implementation, setup, and training alone. Consequently, this would directly impact any budget lines related to "inpatient and outpatient non-capital non-labor" costs.

Additionally, depending on the organization, consideration of other applicable project-relevant costs should be made such as investment in new on-premises hardware, where some vendor estimates can run around the $20K+ mark.

On the other hand, without the costly burden of physical servers and storage hardware, cloud based PACS solutions offer a significantly less investment!

A VNA first architecture generally applies for larger-scale organizations and enterprises with multi-system departmental networks operating complex workflows. Though considered a pricier investment (the greatest drawback for VNA implementation!) this approach can yield in a remarkable PACS footprint reduction and curtailed maintenance costs (~15–20% annually of PACS licensing expense**).

At RamSoft, we offer two fair pricing models that grant healthcare providers the flexibility to select what works best for their organizations while ensuring best value of investment.

Cloud Model: A top customer preference, cost is determined on a minimum monthly volume, with tiers increasing incrementally per hundred studies. Software support and hosting service i.e., servers, backups, and networking in the data center, are bundled in the cost per study***.

Subscription Model: Ideal for customers using on-premises servers or third-party data centers, this model also operates under a minimum monthly study volume; however, as the monthly study volume grows, your licensing fee is upgraded accordingly. Software support is bundled in the cost per study.

2-Revamp-PACS-vs-VNA-1.png

*Source: AltexSoft
**Source: HealthTech Hot Spot
***This pricing is available only for PowerServer™ products. Take your healthcare organization further — ask our team about pricing for our inaugural Imaging EMR solution, OmegaAI, today!

Wish to Compare Apples (PACS) and Oranges (VNA)?

Discuss your PACS & VNA consolidation needs with RamSoft’s team of experts and they can walk you through the pricing models of its medical imaging SaaS solutions including the world's first Imaging EMR, OmegaAI.

Got Questions? We Have Answers!

Whether considering or planning to consolidate your existing systems with an Imaging EMR like OmegaAI, we're excited to learn more about you and what you’re looking for in transforming your healthcare ecosystem! Request a free demo today and let’s get the conversation started.