Medical Imaging Blog

Medical Imaging Leaders

Medical Imaging Critical To Improving Emergency Care: Q&A With Dr. Sandra Schneider Part 3

Dr. Sandra SchneiderEarlier this week, emergency medicine specialist Dr. Sandra Schneider identified emergency department overcrowding as a symptom of hospital overcrowding in part one of my interview with her.  In part two yesterday, we identified better collaboration between medical imaging and emergency care leaders as critical towards managing overcrowding.

In the final part of my interview below, we put our focus squarely on the patient, as we learn how all of medicine must work together to improve the cost efficiency of care, without sacrificing improvements to patient outcomes.

How do you see the new focus on improving patient outcomes impacting emergency medical care and/or reimbursements?

Medical Imaging Critical To Improving Emergency Care: Q&A With Dr. Sandra Schneider Part 2

Dr. Sandra SchneiderIn part one of my interview with Dr. Sandra Schneider, we identified emergency department overcrowding as a symptom – rather than cause of – overall hospital overcrowding, while dispelling some long held myths regarding the true economic impact of this issue.

While yesterday’s interview provided more context, the fact remains that emergency department overcrowding is an issue all the same.  And with the roll-out of health care reform, many expect it to continue to grow in severity.

Medical Imaging Critical To Improving Emergency Care: Q&A With Dr. Sandra Schneider Part 1

Dr. Sandra SchneiderOver the last several years, emergency department overcrowding has become a troubling issue, one that can become an easy scapegoat for the massive health care cost overruns we have become accustomed to hearing about.

But is emergency department overcrowding a cause – or a symptom – of something larger?  And whether emergency department overcrowding is a cause or a symptom, how can healthcare organizations use new technology, including medical imaging, as a cure?

Are Radiologists The True Medical Imaging Gatekeepers?

Medical Imaging GatekeepersIn the business world, “gatekeeper” has come to be known as the person who controls access to the decision maker. In medicine, a primary care physician monitors a patient’s health care and serves as gatekeeper for HMO services. If you’re a radiologist reading this, it’s likely that you’ve never considered yourself a gatekeeper of anything.

But, Alan Kaye, MD, recommended utilizing imaging gatekeeping as a means to hinder the increasing commoditization of medical imaging in his session presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

“Gatekeeping” Benefits Patients

How To Select A Medical Imaging Technology Vendor That Won’t Miss The Forest for the Trees

PACS Forest For The TreesAs an industry, we should be long past the question of what we are trying to do; rather, we should be asking how, when and where. Your medical imaging vendor should be guiding you along this path. Unfortunately, in the medical imaging arena, some Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) vendors are notorious for being niche players. They know all the details of what to do at the radiology department level to improve workflow but get so caught up in those details that they fail to understand the big picture of how to spread imaging to the entire enterprise and when and where you store the vast amount of data. You need a medical imaging vendor who won’t miss the forest for the trees.

Stable Yet Dislocated Radiology Workforce Predicted

Stable Stones

The American College of Radiology (ACR) Commission on Human Resources conducted a survey, which Edward I. Bluth, MD and colleagues analyzed. They concluded that job prospects for new radiologists are solid.

In 2011, approximately 1,241 radiologists were hired, and 2012 estimates indicated that 1,103 positions will have been made available, according to Edward I. Bluth, MD and colleagues. Further, the authors forecast 1,227 radiologists being hired in 2014.

“Compared with previous attempts to evaluate the workforce, we feel that this survey methodology is more robust because … we are able to survey the universe of radiology practices,” Bluth wrote recently in the Journal of the American College of Radiology. (Source: HealthImaging)

What Millennials Will Bring to Medical Imaging

Binary Code

They’ve been called the Internet Generation. From shopping to socializing to watching TV, “Millennials” do almost everything online or digitally. This is the generation that will surpass the number of baby boomers by 2015, growing to 83 million.

Having grown up with technology, Millennials view technology, and the Internet, as an extension of themselves. This will fuel the increasing use of electronic and mobile devices, online communities and anytime anywhere access to data.

Here’s what a panel of young radiologists, who presented “The Millennials Vision: The World as It Could Be,” on June 7 at the annual meeting of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM), had to say. (Source: HealthImaging)

Keeping Cardiovascular Imaging Specialists Happy

Happy Medical Professionals While doctors, in general, are in high demand, cardiologists and cardiovascular imaging specialists, in particular, are actively being recruited by a number of hospital organizations, such as the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic. The day-to-day costs of running and managing a private practice combined with declining reimbursements are pushing cardiologists to seek out hospitals as their first line of defense. Having willing recruits makes filling these critical positions that much easier.

Welcome Newest Addition to McKesson Enterprise Imaging Family: peerVue

As pressures continue to mount for hospitals to provide better and more comprehensive care, efficient communications are the lifeline to managing information systems across the enterprise.

A key business driver for McKesson Medical Imaging is to seek out technology companies that are compatible with our portfolio and support the needs of our customers. Our recent acquisition of peerVue falls into that category. A provider of radiology workflow solutions, their IT solution simplifies diagnostic workflow and speeds up communications throughout the patient management cycle.

McKesson Enterprise Imaging Acquires peerVue

Get Motivated by These Top Medical Imaging Facilities

medical imagingThinking of making big changes in your medical imaging system? Here’s some inspiration.

Take a look at the healthcare providers that were named Health Imaging and IT’s Top 25 Connected Healthcare Facilities. The list includes facilities in big cities (New York’s Montefiore Medical Center) and small towns (Minot, N.D.’s Trinity Health) with winners in every region of the country.

Their medical imaging solutions were both technical and procedural, but they all were toward the top of Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) EMR adoption stages. Most were at stage 6 or 7, putting them in the top 4.5 percent of the nation’s medical imaging facilities.