NorthShore switches PACS to manage 600,000 annual studies

NorthShore University HealthSystem is moving to replace its system-wide image storage and sharing system.

The Chicago-area integrated delivery system is replacing its current picture archiving and communications system (PACS) with an offering from Intelerad Medical Systems, a Quebec-based company offering solutions in enterprise workflow.

NorthShore operates four hospitals and a 900-physician multispecialty group practice with more than 100 locations in the Chicago metropolitan area. The system is based in Evanston, Ill.

The IDS expects that more than 70 radiologists and in excess of 900 clinicians will use the Intelerad solution to better manage their work with imaging studies, with expected benefits including streamlining clinicians’ caseloads. The system conducts an estimated 600,000 imaging studies annually.

“We were seeking a modern, intuitive solution with robust stability, flexible ease of use and high performance,” says Heath Bell, senior vice president of health information technology for NorthShore. “We evaluated solutions from multiple vendors, and Intelerad’s IntelePACS was the one that met all of our requirements.”

NorthShore will use the IntelePACS platform as its central platform for storing, retrieving and routing medical images.

The integrated delivery system operates acute-care facilities in four Chicago suburbs—Evanston, Glenbrook, Highland Park and Skokie. The system also supports the NorthShore Research Institute, the NorthShore Foundation and the NorthShore Home & Hospice Services. NorthShore also contributes $235 million in charitable care and services to the communities it serves.