Overcoming Challenges for Successful PACS Installation in Low-Resource Regions: Our Experience in Nigeria
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Overcoming Challenges for Successful PACS Installation in Low-Resource Regions: Our Experience in Nigeria Ameena Elahi 1,2 & Farouk Dako 2,3 & Jonathan Zember 4 & Bunmi Ojetayo 5 & Dale A. Gerus 2 & Alan Schweitzer 2 & Daniel J. Mollura 2 & Omer Awan 3
# Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine 2020
Abstract In this paper, we walk you through our challenges, successes, and experience while participating in a Global Health Outreach Project at the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, Nigeria. The scope of the project was to install a Picture Archive and Communication System (PACS) to establish a centralized viewing network at UCH’s Radiology Department, for each of their digital modalities. Installing a PACS requires robust servers, the ability to retrieve and archive studies, ensuring workstations can view studies, and the configuration of imaging modalities to send studies. We anticipated that we might experience hurdles for each of these requirements, due to limited resources and without the availability to make a site visit prior to the start of the project. While we ultimately experienced delays and troubleshooting was required at each turn of the install, with the help of dedicated volunteers both on and off-site and the UCH staff, our shared goal was accomplished. Keywords PACS . RAD-AID Friendship PACS . Global health . Low and middle income countries (LMICs) . Developing countries . Emerging countries . Medically underserved
Introduction The SIIM (Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine) Global Outreach Committee, in partnership with RAD-AID International, created the Global Ambassador Program, whose mission is to advance Imaging Informatics throughout the low-middle income countries (formerly referred to as “the developing world”). Two of the 2019 RAD-AID SIIM Global Ambassadors were provided grants to work alongside two other RAD-AID volunteers to help implement the RADAID Friendship Cloud PACS (Picture Archiving and Communications System), at the University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan, Nigeria. Two additional RAD* Ameena Elahi [email protected] 1
Department of Information Services, Penn Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
2
RAD-AID International, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
3
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
4
Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA
5
University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria
AID volunteers remotely assisted the project from the USA during the installation. The RAD-AID Friendship PACS is designed to provide imaging services to underserved and resource-poor regions, enabling them to improve their position in providing key health medical solutions. We discuss the successful installation of PACS, and the challenges we overcame while participating in this Global Health Outreach Project, during our 2 weeks on-site.
Background Having opened in 1956, UCH was the first medical school in Nigeria and has trained most physicians in Nigeria; however, they do not yet have all the technical resources th
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