Picture archiving and communication systems may be one of the most tried-and-true technologies at work in clinical settings today, but there's still big room for growth, according to the 2015 Imaging Technology Study just published by HIMSS Analytics.

"No big surprise, but the PACS market is relatively saturated," said Brendan Fitzgerald, director of research at HIMSS Analytics. "The top-level vendors haven't changed either: We're still seeing GE, McKesson, Fuij, Philips, Agfa, all those big guys really cornering the market, for the most part."

Saturated, to be sure: With 100 percent of respondents indicating that they use PACS, radiology was the most reported use area. More than 90 percent use PACS for ultrasound, and 88.9 percent use it for MRI. The specialty with the largest increase was cardiology, which moved from 48 percent to 59 percent utilizing a PACS.

But while adoption levels are high, HIMSS Analytics suggests there could be potential for growth as provider organizations look to adopt new technologies focused on storing, sharing and offering enterprise-wide access to images.

"People are at least starting to move away from multiple servers and trying to figure out a way to store images in an easier fashion," said Fitzgerald. "The changes are beginning to happen.”  

According to the study, in fact, the use of multiple servers to store images across an organization has dropped from 38 percent to 28 percent.

"There are image repositories with dynamic imaging capabilities, which showed increase, year over year. Also, there's been a slight uptick in usage of the cloud for image storage as well," he says. 

Just under 50 percent of respondents indicated the use of an enterprise image viewer, according to HIMSS Analytics, and with image sharing across organizations a new imperative in the push toward value-based care, there's plenty of room for growth.

"On some level, those radiology departments are going to turn into cost centers rather than revenue generators,” he added. “Capturing what they need from the patient the first time, on an enterprise level, could help stem some of that."

PACS workstations, both inside (81.6 percent) and outside (80.3  percent), were the most reported means by organizations that don't use enterprise image viewers for access.

But at the same time, the number of respondents indicating that their EHR was image-enabled increased from roughly 57 percent to 61 percent year over year.

Tablets and smartphones are also finding favor for image access, with 35.5 percent and 28.9 percent of respondents indicating future purchase plans.

"PACS are always going to be around," says Fitzgerald. "But what will grow is that enterprise approach. And to do that, there will need to be some different technologies that are employed."

On an enterprise level, "mobile could be key," he said. "Nobody is looking to replace their PACS workstations, but we're seeing an uptick in tablets and smartphones. They were the highest-rated planned purchases for imaging access, lending credibility to the potential growth in the enterprise viewing."

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN