A totally digital national breast screening service

National expansion and digitalization

An analogue screening program had been in place in the Eastern regions of Ireland since 2000. In 2005, preparations started to take the program national and, at the same time, go digital. BreastCheck went out looking for a PACS which initially could be suited for the current parts of the screening program but eventually be scaled up for the whole country. The PACS should also be able to integrate with the existing clinical information system.

“It was important for us to find a flexible PACS solution with the optimal functionality to support breast imaging and our screening workflow but which also provided a platform to achieve an enterprise solution for the national program, says Niall Phelan, Chief Physicist at BreastCheck.

A PACS dedicated to breast screening

BreastCheck chose Sectra as the PACS provider for the national screening program. In 2005 Sectra PACS was installed in the Eastern regions of Ireland and in 2007, along with the expansion of the national program, Sectra PACS was expanded to an enterprise wide-solution. Today, all images in Ireland, from all vendors’ systems, are assessed in Sectra PACS. It is integrated with BreastCheck’s clinical information system, providing an efficient reading environment for the radiologists. Operating a single PACS solution across the country means that all images are available at all sites. It also creates flexibility, allowing reporting from any site as well as simplifying double reading and arbitration responsibility.

”Seamless integration of PACS and RIS is fundamental to achieving optimal workflow. Think hard about the integration side and your workflow,” advices Niall Phelan. “Sectra Breast Imaging PACS was the only PACS with dedicated breast screening functionality. It provided an excellent overall screening workflow which for example supported double reading and efficient hanging of images,” he concludes.