CPAS Troubleshooting & System Maintenance Flashcards

How frequently should PACS hard drive SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) status be reviewed as part of preventive maintenance?

Answer: Monthly or more frequently

Monthly SMART status checks allow administrators to detect early warning signs of drive degradation and schedule replacements before an unplanned failure causes data loss.

What preventive maintenance activity most directly reduces the risk of security breaches in a PACS environment?

Answer: Applying vendor-issued security patches and OS updates on a regular schedule

Regularly applying security patches closes known vulnerabilities in PACS software and underlying operating systems before they can be exploited by attackers.

Why are periodic PACS database integrity checks an important component of routine system maintenance?

Answer: To detect and repair index corruption, orphaned image references, and broken table relationships

Database integrity checks identify corrupted indexes, orphaned records, and referential integrity errors that can cause image retrieval failures or silent data loss if left unaddressed.

What is the primary reason for testing PACS UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) systems on a scheduled maintenance basis?

Answer: To confirm the UPS batteries can sustain the system load long enough for an orderly shutdown during a real outage

UPS batteries degrade over time; periodic load testing confirms the battery still has sufficient capacity to support PACS through a controlled shutdown when power actually fails.

What administrative documentation should be updated immediately after completing any PACS configuration change?

Answer: System configuration records and change logs reflecting what was changed, when, and by whom

Current configuration records ensure that any future troubleshooting, audits, or disaster recovery effort starts from an accurate baseline of how the system is actually configured.

During scheduled PACS maintenance, which task validates that backup procedures will actually work before a real disaster occurs?

Answer: Performing test restores from backups to verify completeness and recoverability

An untested backup is an unreliable backup; regular test restores confirm that data is complete, uncorrupted, and restorable within the organization's recovery time objectives.