Digital X-Ray Systems are crucial pieces of equipment in most veterinary and medical clinics and have become a huge asset to the radiology world. As important as these digital images are, many clinics neglect to have a safe backup for them or think that their in-house PACS computer is enough to store the images. With this in-mind, we’re highlighting some of the risks associated with not backing up your Digital X-Ray, with some tips on how you can back it up.
What is PACS?
PACS stands for Picture Archiving and Communications System. What this really means is, using medical imagining technologies, PACS will store, manage, and transfer digital images along with any patient information associated with those images.
What many people don’t know is their in-house PACS only stores the images you take. Just like taking a picture on your phone, in-house PACS works in a similar way. When you take a picture on your smartphone, you need to use the camera function; to view it, you then need to go to your camera roll where all of your pictures are stored.
After taking the X-Ray image, PACS then stores the digital image and is where you would go to view each image you have taken with your Digital X-Ray System. If pictures on your smartphone are only saved to your camera roll and you happen to drop it into a body of water, you will never be able to retrieve the pictures from your smartphone. Similarly, a natural disaster like a flood happens in your clinic and your in-house PACS system is destroyed. All the images and patient information from your PACS will be lost.
The Possibility of a Catastrophe
Natural disasters happen more often than anyone would like to think. A fire or flood could hit your clinic overnight, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. This is why many clinics that have a Digital X-ray System backup their in-house PACS system as a precaution for a natural disaster.
Along with natural disasters, computer viruses, the age of your computer, a power surge or even an employee spilling their coffee on the in-house PACS can cause you to lose all the stored images. Losing these digital images can be catastrophic to you and your clinic, so being over-prepared by backing up your Digital X-Ray System is highly recommended.
How Can I Back Up My Digital X-Ray System?
There are multiple ways you can back up your Digital X-Ray System, but there are three main ways Intriquip recommends:
Method #1: External Hard Drive
One way to guarantee a copy of your digital images to be saved elsewhere other than your in-house PACS system is by using an External Hard Drive. Being relatively cheap, External Hard Drives can be purchased at almost any local electronic store. In most cases, all you have to do is plug in the External Hard Drive into your in-house PACS computer.
Most External Hard Drives will already contain the software needed and will automatically save images from your in-house PACS computer to the Hard Drive. If your External Hard Drive does not contain the correct software, all you have to do is select the file containing your digital images on your in-house PACS computer and watch as it automatically saves that file to the External Hard Drive.
There are a couple of downsides to using an External Hard Drive, one being the Hard Drive is not stored offsite. If a natural disaster does occur, not only will your in-house PACS computer be compromised, but there is a good chance your External Hard Drive will be too. Another downside to using an External Hard Drive is, the images have to be redownloaded to a PACS computer for you to be able to view them.
Method #2: Cloud Storage
If you’re looking for a consistent way to back up your Digital X-Ray, Cloud Storage is a great way to do it. DropBox and GoogleDrive are great Cloud Storage services that charge you a small monthly fee to store information, like digital x-ray images to an offsite server.
Easily select the files you would like to save and your preferred Cloud Storage service will create a copy, saving it to a secure server. Unlike an External Hard Drive, Cloud Storage services store your digital images offsite, on a secure server. In the event a natural disaster does happen, your digital images will be safe even if your in-house PACS computer is lost. Cloud Storage can be a tremendous way to save your images, but the more digital images you have and the more new images you take, the more storage you are going to require.
As you require higher volumes of storage, your Cloud Storage service is going to charge you for the additional storage necessary to save your digital images. Like an External Hard Drive, images stored in Cloud Storage cannot be viewed unless downloaded back to a PACS computer.
Method #3: Cloud-Based PACS
Similar to Cloud Storage, Cloud-Based PACS allows you to save your digital images to a secure, offsite server. Unlike Cloud Storage or an External Hard Drive, Cloud-Based PACS allows you to view and share these images. For veterinarians and medical professionals who need to share the X-ray images with their patients or other referring doctors, Cloud-Based PACS can be a great asset to the clinic.
For people with multiple clinics, Cloud-Based PACS can be super beneficial because you can save and store all of your digital images in one place, as well as access these images from any Cloud-Based PACS computer. One disadvantage to Cloud-Based PACS is that it can be extremely expensive, usually charging you per study saved to Cloud-Based PACS.
The Importance of Testing
After backing up your Digital X-Ray system, many people think everything is done and your images will be safe. What most people forget to do is test their backup. Testing your backup is a crucial step in making sure the backed-up images are able to be retrieved when needed.
Without access to these backed-up images, your backup is going to prove useless if a disaster does happen to occur. Having someone test your backup every couple of months will help to ensure the backup is working, and images can be retrieved when necessary.
Don’t Discover Safe Data Storage By Accident
Digital X-Ray systems are outstanding pieces of equipment used in both the veterinary and medical healthcare industries. In all, taking the extra precautions by backing up your Digital X-Ray System is incredibly important, and can save you a ton of hassle if your in-house PACS fails. Just as important, you should be testing your backup regularly to make sure images are saved properly and can be retrieved when they are needed.
For more information on how to backup your Digital X-Ray System, contact us here at Intriquip, we are happy to assist at any time.