June 10, 2008 - The Virginia Commonwealth University Health System (VCU) recently implemented McKesson’s Horizon Medical Imaging picture archiving and communication system (PACS), looking to provide its radiologists, surgeons and other caregivers faster access to medical images ranging from multislice CT to ultrasound.
VCU also installed the system to provide its caregivers with improved workflow capabilities to analyze, distribute and store medical images and information across the organization, in hopes of improving patient care.
The integration with VCU’s existing database of images is reportedly enabling the institution to avoid the costly process of converting data to a new backend platform. A “disruption-free” implementation ensured that VCU was able to perform “business as usual” during the installation, according to McKesson. The radiology group utilizes the usability of features such as a true, unified work list, clinical series mapping and adaptive image loading.
The McKesson solution also reportedly helps enhance the National Patient Safety Goals and improves report turn-around time to referring physicians through intelligent workflow considerations. These include image analysis capabilities, integrated 3D images, reporting and communication tools from a single radiologist cockpit. As a result, radiologists no longer need to move from one workstation to another to complete studies involving advanced visualization and analysis.
The VCU contract also includes licensing for McKesson’s Horizon Optical Imaging solution, an optical imaging product that enables clinicians to take an analog optical device, such as an endoscope, and turn it into a fully DICOM-enabled digital modality to enable digital capture of still and cine images. Image storage, archiving and viewing is supported by the Horizon Medical Imaging system.
For more information: www.mckesson.com, www.vcu.edu
October 25, 2026 
