Writing for the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) last year, Louis M. Lannum shared a list of the most important things to consider when developing an organization's enterprise imaging program.

Lannum, Cleveland Clinic’s director of enterprise imaging, listed a total of six “key elements.”

Service-line integration, for instance, paints a helpful picture for the organization of just how many images are being created and accessed each and every day. And business analytics help you know if the program is functioning properly or if it still needs a few minor changes.

“Each part of the strategy builds a comprehensive multi-specialty imaging program that allows for the storage, indexing, management, and access of images through the healthcare system as well as provide a portal to exchange images and reports to entities outside the system,” Lannum wrote.

And that’s perhaps the most important thing to remember when developing an enterprise imaging program. It’s not about just one thing or the other; there are numerous factors to consider, and each one is crucial to your program’s success.