PACS and teleradiology at the 3rd Medical Group, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska

After two years of extensive planning, the Department of Radiology at the 3rd MG (Medical Group) at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Anchorage, Alaska, established the first functional PACS in Alaska. Project Akamai provided the funding and planning expertise with DoD (Department of Defense) research dollars through a consortium of outstanding managers and consultants. Utilizing research money outside the 3rd MG budget had both advantages and disadvantages. The 3rd MG Radiology Department faced many political issues in securing a final purchase order, similar to any hospital purchasing a multi-million dollar system. The final purchase order, installation, acceptance testing, training and equipment integration (many systems, including a GE PACS, Dejarnette gateways, Fuji CR, Access and Medweb servers, and Lumisys scanners) proceeded with great success. After one year of PACS usage, clinician acceptance is high, because of the increased Radiology Department service. The lessons learned are extremely vital as the 3rd MG moves into a new hospital with a newer and expanded PACS integrating with the Federal Health Care Partners at the VA hospital, Bassett Army Medical Hospital (Fairbanks), Kodiak (Coast Guard), and the new Alaska Native Medical Center