The PACSMan Pontificates

Now It Can Be Told....

2011-07-19T10:39:00.004-04:00

Almost everyone I know has heard either the bible verse from Ecclesiastes 3 or the lyrics to the old Byrds song “Turn! Turn! Turn!”. You know how it goes…. 1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die….Not everyone knows what is beyond those first few lines though so here it is… 9 What do workers gain from their

Father's Day Thoughts

2011-06-19T21:43:00.009-04:00

Left To Right: Nick, my brother Frank, Me, MattI’ve easily written 10,000 words in 6-7 different posts the past 7 weeks, none which has ever seen the light of day for a variety of reasons. But here it is, just after 9:30 p.m. on Fathers Day, and I’m writing again after just coming back with wonderful dinner at Olive Garden with my oldest son Nick.Nick has developed into an incredible young man. I

Fava Beans and A Nice Chianti

2011-04-18T12:06:00.006-04:00

Call me the sick puppy I am but I enjoyed the movie The Silence of the Lambs. The psycho-drama kept you on the edge of your seat until the very end and no one but no one comes close to Anthony Hopkins in his portrayal of Dr. Hannibal Lector. There was an event that happened in our industry a week or so back where a press release went out over the newswires and basically said one of the biggies in

You Can't Fix Stupid

2011-03-28T13:14:00.006-04:00

I was on a conference call the other day with a client who hired me to evaluate their marginally performing PACS and RIS and to look at options for replacement as well as options relating to a VNA. My first step before initiating vendor divorce proceedings is to always to see if this marriage can be saved, so I went to the vendor and asked if we could have someone come and look at the systems.

Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves

2011-03-15T14:23:00.007-04:00

I was listening to the radio this morning and up pops an oldie but goodie that Cher did way back in 1971.....I was born in the wagon of a travelin' showMy mama used to dance for the money they'd throwPapa would do whatever he couldPreach a little gospelSell a couple bottles of Doctor GoodAs the song went on I got to thinking- gee, that sounds a lot like my industry.Gypsies, tramps and thievesWe'd

HIMSS, EHR'S, and ITS

2011-03-04T10:31:00.024-05:00

It’s been over a month since I last posted but then it’s been a VERY busy month. I’m going to try and do much better but as I said I don’t make New Years’ resolution’s because I rarely keep them so…here ya go!!HIMSS®- what an interesting show!! 1000+ vendors, 31,000+ people and I asked myself time and again why was I there? It wasn’t to increase press registration although just like RSNA® there

Bring back 2010

2011-01-19T16:36:00.007-05:00

It’s a New Year. Whoopee! Nearly twenty days into the new year and already I long for 2010 again. I vowed years ago to never make resolutions I can’t keep (and even more directly, to never keep those that I make) and so far I’m right on target considering that my one big resolution was to blog more. Considering how 2011 started out though I probably would be better off saying nothing at all.I

The Last Christmas

2010-12-25T16:47:00.004-05:00

Nearly every parent dreads the time when Christmas is no longer magical for their children. For me it happened maybe 6-7 years ago. Thanks largely to the Internet that Al Gore created by the tween years there was a fairly high degree of skepticism about Santa. By age 13 or 14 it was assumed that they knew that Santa Claus was indeed much different than the man in the red suit they saw at the

Aunt Mary

2010-12-23T20:38:00.002-05:00

Today was Aunt Mary’s birthday. She would have been…well….old….91 to be exact…but alas she went home to her Savior three and a half years ago. Now most of you are thinking what’s the big deal about an aunt who is dead whose birthday was today but my Aunt Mary was a special aunt. She hated the fact that her birthday was so close to Christmas. God help you if you wrapped her birthday gift in

The Lighter Side of RSNA

2010-12-09T12:01:00.022-05:00

There is a side of RSNA that few see- the lighter side. The PACSMan Awards are a blast to write and post on AuntMinnie.com and nearly all are done tongue-in-cheek with a lighthearted attempt at humor. Inevitably someone will think I am vindictive and have a vendetta against their company but that simply is not the case. This year as in years past they were the top read story from RSNA so someone

If Merge Covered Lincoln’s Assassination

2010-11-15T12:03:00.004-05:00

I have often said that Merge Healthcare has the very best marketing and PR department in the entire medical imaging marketplace. No one even comes close especially when it deals with handling what is affectionately known in the journalism industry as “spin”. The most recent third quarter results from Merge speak volumes to this. I’m one of the few who reads the entire story so I was intrigued

Away in a Manger

2010-11-09T07:30:00.005-05:00

Every Christian wants to be just like Jesus but I’ve never really subscribed to that theory. I just wanna be me. After all I was made in His image so why should I try and be something I’m not? Growing up I felt like Him often. Mom every now and then would intersperse my name with His as in “Jesus Christ what have you done now!!” so I felt much closer to Him than most. This week I feel close to

Market Consolidation? Where?

2010-10-28T17:11:00.004-04:00

As I look around and more and more companies in the PACS marketplace are being bought, sold, and merged. “For once” I thought to myself “the market is rightsizing”… If I am to believe the RSNA 2010 Exhibitors List I was never so wrong in my life…I went to the RSNA web site a week ago to get a list of exhibitors in different areas for a Webinar I am doing in early November titled “How to Make the

Perseverance

2010-10-04T09:14:00.004-04:00

Every day I take our ADHD poster child of a dog Elvis, the Wonder beagle, out for his morning walk where he blesses each and every living (and many dead) things with his own personal brand of baptismal water. One of the places that has received his daily blessings over the years has been this dead and decaying log. Cut down well over a decade ago judging by its look I never paid it much attention

A Matter of Trust

2010-09-29T12:22:00.004-04:00

It seems like I have been asked to sign more non-disclosure agreements (NDA’s) before companies are willing to discuss what they consider product futures than ever before. Usually I just go ahead and sign them because the reality is: a) If I disclose anything that is considered proprietary or confidential I am pretty much out of business anyway and; b) I have nothing of any great value the

And Justice for All?

2010-09-22T12:57:00.007-04:00

I’m due in court in just under three hours to address child support issues. No, I am not a deadbeat dad. I’ve never missed a single child support payment since August 2002 and have paid for virtually everything my kids have wanted or needed since then from $117.00 Nike Shox sneakers to $39.95 Hollister jeans to dermatologist appointments on down …all while I shop at garage sales and thrift stores

I'm Incensed!

2010-09-14T20:47:00.006-04:00

Those who know me know there are a lot of things that incense me. At the top of the list are women with entitlement issues, one that is so prevalent in my age group it rankles the mind. That is also one of the primary reasons I remain single nine years post-divorce. Don’t get me wrong, I’m met some very interesting people along the way but the “You’re lucky to have me” and “I deserve only the

10 weeks

2010-09-05T22:30:00.009-04:00

Authors Note: PACS-related blog posts will resume in a day or so, but I really felt the need to get this up tonight…for me if no one else.I have often wondered how I would react if I woke up and found out I had lost one of my sons or worse, that knew I was about to lose one of my children and was basically powerless to do anything about it. Josh and Lisa Hunter, whom I wrote about two blog posts

We’re #1!! So are we!! Us too!!

2010-09-01T05:14:00.004-04:00

I got an e-mail from Imaging Director the other day who asked me what seemed to be a simple question “In your opinion who are the top 5 PACS vendors in the marketplace today?” I wish the answer were as simple as the question.In the PACS marketplace everyone either is number one or has been number one at some point in time. I kid you not. Just look at their ads. Hertz has nothing on the medical

One Day at a Time

2010-08-29T19:04:00.007-04:00

Well I have three PACS blogs in the queue that just need to be proofread lest I be sued so you’ll be seeing at least two of them later this week. In the interim I thought you might enjoy this lil piece that was in a picture frame that I picked up at a garage sale this weekend for a quarter (yes $0.25). I started to put the frame away with the other 2,516 I have (can you say packrat?>) until I

Life, Raw

2010-08-22T22:27:00.004-04:00

Whenever I get down or hear others complain about how their life sucks I go back and read the ongoing saga of Josh and Lisa Hunter. Josh and Lisa’s little girl Ava has an insidious form of cancer known as Glioblastoma multiforme or GBM for short. Josh’s blogsite can be found here: http://joshuajoelhunter.blogspot.com/Life was wonderful for Josh and Lisa until their daughter Ava started having bad

Who Am I Kidding?

2010-08-20T15:31:00.004-04:00

Most people who know me don’t know that I run a sports ministry in addition to being a PACS consultant. As incredulous as it seems I’ve been doing a soccer ministry for 10 years and have been involved in sports ministry for almost 15 years. So yes, for those who are thinking this out loud already, God does have a serious sense of humor if He can use someone like me to help further the goals of

Dominus vobistcum

2010-07-06T11:25:00.000-04:00