Fujifilm Medical Systems has been awarded a seven-year, 24-million-euro contract to provide a PACS across Wales.
The All Wales PACS Managed Service Solution contract, which runs from 2012 to 2019, will enable Welsh Local Health Boards and the Velindre Trust to have a common PACS service together with a centralized vendor-neutral archive (VNA) and remote back-up, according to Fuji. All services will be operationally phased in from 2012 to 2014, Fuji said.
Fuji will replace all existing legacy PACS systems with its Synapse PACS software. All images will be available on demand, with a two-second response time for in-hospital viewing, the company said. Data security will be provided via a secure sockets layer (SSL) network.
In the first phase that will run from March to June 2012, the central VNA will be established together with the first of seven Welsh Local Health Boards. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCU) will be the first authority to implement Synapse PACS, and the installation will involve three primary sites and include local servers and new workstations being installed together with various CR and DR systems, according to Fuji.
Data migration for BCU will begin shortly and the data migration, system installation, user training, and development are expected to be completed by June, according to the vendor. Fuji plans to have the remaining Welsh Local Health Boards operationally phased-in by 2014.
National Health Service (NHS) Wales expects the nationwide PACS will yield savings of 18 million euroscompared with legacy costs over the length of the contract. The framework agreement allows any local health board of trust in NHS Wales to enter into their own contractual agreement directly with Fuji. Wales currently has 13 different PACS contracts in place, according to NHS Wales.
