In 2009 we entered a new phase in the evolution of veterinary digital radiography systems. In an effort to bring down prices and expand the veterinary digital market, several vendors are now offering “all in one” digital systems that challenge the notion that a “full blown” PACS is necessary for every veterinary hospital. These systems are bringing the price point for digital radiography into the 25-40K range. Konica (Image Pilot), Fuji (Prima), and Agfa (Oracle) have all released systems that fall into this “all in one” class.
Is it possible to deliver digital radiography at this price point? What are you giving up with these systems? First - an analogy.
Sugar Ray is back.
Lets say you were asked to outfit a new shi shi restaurant with a stereo system. This place is top end. On any given night, 75% of the guests will be wearing a predominantly black wardrobe and 80% or the guys will likely be weaing ginormous watches (which seems to be part of a new mating ritual) to impress their guests. To do this right, your stereo will need to have dozens of speakers, preamps, amps, satellite radio, a CD jukebox; and heck young Irwin will be holding his Bar-Mitzvah at the restaurant so you will need a turntable for the DJ. The system looks something like this plus about 2 dozen ceiling speakers.
Your mother also called on your services. She wants to hear some music in her kitchen when she is cooking. The kitchen is very small and despite her passion for Sam the Cooking Guy she is a pretty bad cook. You decide that her situation will only require a Bose Wave radio as pictured here:
Question – is one of these systems right and the other wrong? Before you answer, please don’t send me emails telling me that you need super high end speakers to hear the dark, reedy, timbre of the bassoon in the orchestra because the only music you have available for this test is your kid’s Ipod with few tunes from Sugar Ray and something by Major Lazer** Trust me – the sound of the music (and getting back to the analogy the image quality) is not the issue here.
The point is that there is a stereo system for every situation. There are no right or wrong systems. The ability to expand a system to add more speakers or more inputs is a very important feature that differentiates different stereo systems. Before you can purchase a stereo system you must consider your own situation and how much functionality you need. The same goes for veterinary digital radiography. All practices are different and the software functionality of the system and the ability to expand the system for current and future needs is an important factort that differentiates digital systems.
The new “all in one” digital systems will work in many situations but you need to know their limitations.
Many veterinary practices are analagous to the kitchen in the above analogy. Many vet practices are one to two doctor practices without an ultrasound machine who only need to view images in 2-4 places in the hospital. Moreover, they have paper records and a practice management system that they use like a cash register. Given that they do not CURRENTLY (key word is currently) need to hook up a CT scanner, add 12 workstations, or even integrate with their practice management system, these “all in one systems” will certainly do the trick for these veterinary practices. Spending more money on a "full blown PACS" may only buy more functionality that they may never use.
It should be noted that these “all in one” systems do not give up anything in image quality. These systems utilize the same image processing software that is found on these company's featured systems. In some cases, there is a modification of the hardware that could, for example, be associated with a slower processing speeds. Discussing the specifics of these systems, however, is outside the scope of this article.
The main limitation of the “all in one” systems is that they are generally not flexible or expandable to meet future software needs should your situation change. For example:
- what happens if your practice management software has an update that would allow you to interface with your digital radiography system? Some of these “all in one” systems do not support the functionality that will allow for effective practice management integration.
- What happens if you move to a larger building and now, instead of needing 4 workstations, you need 12? Some of these systems cannot handle extra workstations.
- What happens if you hire an associate who wants to do ultrasound and now you want to integrate the ultrasound wth your digital system?Some of these systems cannot handle ultrasound images.
Bottom line: These newer all in one systems will be very attractive to many veterinary hospitals. If you are considering an "all in one" system you should understand that increased functionality comes at a price and understand the limitations of these systems.
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**Yes – Sugar Ray is back and the new album is titled “Music for Cougars.” One observer commented that Major Lazer sounds like Shakira on amphetamines. I promise you, music quality (or image quality) is not the issue in the analogy used in this article.
