Is PACS research and development still necessary?

Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) has been introduced in clinical practice too soon and with too much hype. More research and development would have been needed before starting actual deployment of these complex systems and R&D is still very much in need now, although many hospitals are running successful PACS installations for several years now. In fact, new areas of PACS development include improved reporting strategies, optimized distribution of radiological information to referring doctors, and knowledge management applications ranging from e-learning to computer aided diagnosis.