KLAS PACS 2025 Report: Consistent Support & Ongoing Development Crucial Amid AI and Cloud Focus

What You Should Know: 

– As healthcare organizations navigate technological shifts in the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) market, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cloud platforms top of mind, consistent vendor support and robust product development remain paramount for success. 

– The newly released KLAS Research “PACS 2025” report underscores that while innovation is anticipated, strong foundational performance, responsive support, proactive guidance, and quality product development are the key differentiators impacting customer satisfaction and effective care delivery. 

 – The report focuses on traditional PACS models (front-end viewer and back-end archive) and examines vendor performance across two distinct image volume groups: those handling less than 300,000 studies per year and those managing over 300,000.  

Support and Development Emerge as Critical Success Factors

In today’s evolving PACS landscape, two factors significantly influence customer success: the responsiveness and proactivity of vendor support and the pace and quality of ongoing product development. Healthcare organizations rely on their PACS vendors not only to deliver reliable current technology but also to guide them through future innovations like AI integration and cloud transitions. Vendors who excel in providing consistent, knowledgeable support and demonstrate a clear, reliable roadmap for product enhancements are fostering deeper partnerships and higher satisfaction, according to the KLAS report.  

Sectra Leads the Pack with Strong Partnerships and Reliability

Sectra, named the 2025 Best in KLAS winner for PACS, stands out for its strong performance and high customer satisfaction across both large- and small-volume organizations. Customers consistently praise the platform’s reliability, the vendor’s proactive system monitoring, and the smoothness of upgrades. Significant improvements in support have further driven satisfaction; large-volume clients highlight regular check-ins with engaged contacts, while smaller-volume organizations, often working through resellers, also report positive support relationships and timely issue resolution. With Sectra continuing to expand its Sectra One Cloud offering, many clients plan to migrate in the future, and all interviewed customers plan to stay with the vendor, reflecting deep trust and satisfaction.  

AGFA HealthCare and INFINITT Shine in Customer Engagement and Support

AGFA HealthCare earns high marks, particularly from smaller-volume clients, for being a strong, proactive partner that understands unique customer needs and environments – a level of attention smaller sites often feel they lack from other vendors. Customers appreciate AGFA HealthCare’s proactive communication regarding new and upcoming features, including cloud offerings, and the provision of high-quality on-site training. Recent upgrades are also reported to be smoother than earlier iterations. However, a few larger-volume clients expressed dissatisfaction regarding implementation organization and challenges with hanging protocols, though customization or newer versions mitigate this for some.  

INFINITT customers, primarily smaller-volume sites, report general satisfaction, with many already utilizing the vendor’s cloud PACS. While historically less satisfied than larger sites, smaller organizations’ satisfaction with INFINITT has recently increased. Key drivers include helpful, responsive support and notable price transparency regarding related product costs. Some customers, however, perceive INFINITT as reactive and desire more proactive communication about known product or upgrade issues.  

Mixed Experiences for Fujifilm and Merge by Merative Customers

Fujifilm customers report increased satisfaction recently, citing vendor efforts to improve relationships through more consistent support, training, and product development, leading most to plan on staying with the vendor. Larger organizations particularly value having easy access to Fujifilm executives. However, satisfaction is often hampered by experiences with painful upgrades, marked by bugs and insufficient transparency around requirements. Some highly dissatisfied clients feel functionality is delivered prematurely or significantly delayed.  

Merge by Merative clients generally appreciate the stability of their PACS solution, with many including it in long-term plans. However, support experiences vary significantly; customers with an engaged, dedicated contact report positive interactions, while others find support inconsistent or “hit or miss”. Perspectives also differ regarding the company’s direction and product development trajectory following years of acquisitions, with some seeing improvement and others perceiving stagnation. A couple of larger organizations raised concerns about perceived internal pressure prioritizing revenue over customer needs.  

Product Development and Support Challenges Impact Major Vendors

Several established vendors are facing significant customer dissatisfaction primarily linked to support quality and product development, according to the report.

• GE HealthCare: Customers across image volumes expressed discouragement over a perceived lack of innovation, describing the PACS as “stale,” “outdated,” and difficult to maintain. Large-volume users specifically noted struggles with a “clunky” and click-heavy user interface. While some noted improved relationships regarding support and communication, nearly half of respondents plan to replace the solution.  
• Optum: Customer satisfaction has reportedly declined steadily since the 2022 merger with Change Healthcare. While some longtime clients maintain consistent contacts, many are frustrated by experienced contact turnover and a lack of knowledge among current support staff. Product development is perceived as having slowed, partly attributed to resources diverted during the 2024 Change Healthcare breach. Customers with on-premises PACS feel particularly neglected as focus shifts to cloud development, with some uncertainty surrounding Optum’s cloud strategy.  
• Intelerad: Clients, mostly large-volume sites, expressed frustration with the vendor relationship and support, often having to navigate inexperienced tier-one support and escalate issues for resolution. Concerns were also raised about new charges for items like integrations and fixes, which customers feel should be included in contracts. Overall lack of confidence in product development and cloud plans has many planning to replace the PACS.  
• Philips (IntelliSpace PACS & Image Management Vue PACS): Customers reported high dissatisfaction with both Philips offerings. IntelliSpace users cited lacking product development, difficulty accessing knowledgeable support, and confusion about the product’s future roadmap. Vue PACS (acquired from Carestream) users reported similar struggles since the acquisition, noting little product innovation, support access difficulties, and poor follow-through on requests. Consequently, significant numbers of users for both platforms (over half for IntelliSpace, one-third for Vue PACS) are actively replacing or planning to replace their systems.  
• Konica Minolta: Interviewed customers, mostly with very small image volumes, expressed frustration with insufficient support resources and a lack of engineers capable of fixing issues. Satisfaction was higher among those with a direct vendor contact, and some remain optimistic about future development promises.  

The KLAS PACS 2025 report emphasizes that while future technology like AI and cloud platforms capture attention, the core elements of reliable product performance, consistent development, responsive support, and proactive vendor relationships remain the most critical factors driving customer success and long-term loyalty in the PACS market today.