Moose Jaw Union Hospital joins Saskatchewan’s digital imaging program

Patients in Five Hills Health Region will benefit from reduced waits and improved access as result of a secure computer system for the storage, retrieval and display of diagnostic images such as X-rays and CT scans.

Moose Jaw Union Hospital, Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert, Lloydminster Hospital, Battlefords Union Hospital in North Battleford, Cypress Regional Hospital in Swift Current and three hospitals in Saskatoon are the first hospitals in the province that have this type of digital imaging system.

Secure access to a patient’s digital images will help authorized Saskatchewan health care professionals offer the highest quality of care to their patients. The system is called the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS).

"Health care providers in training expect to work with the latest medical technology when they graduate," Moose Jaw North MLA Warren Michelson said on behalf of Health Minister Don McMorris. "State of the art systems will attract and keep more health care providers. We believe PACS is another recruitment tool."

"Digital images are safer, less costly and require less room to store," Five Hills Health Region CEO Cheryl Craig said.

"PACS is resulting in less frustration for doctors and staff," Five Hills Health Region Diagnostic Imaging Director Gerry Ballard said. "We no longer spend excessive time handling the many steps in the manual paper and film based process and the quality of the exam report is much improved."

Safeguards are in place to ensure that only health professionals involved in patient care access personal health information. Policies, procedures, and electronic security protect the information from unauthorized use, error or loss.

PACS and the Pharmaceutical Information Program are the first components of a provincial electronic health record.