With radiology continuing to refine its niche in a rapidly evolving healthcare environment, Sruti Nataraja, MPH, managing director at the Advisory Board Company, believes that one of the major themes coming out the past year is, “The consumer-driven health care market has arrived.”

With the possible exception of diffusion-tensor MRI for concussion in athletes, no clinical imaging procedure stands a chance of bumping information technology-with its attendant ripple effects on regulatory compliance and business performance-off radiology’s figurative front page in 2016.

As the "volume to value" movement reshapes healthcare economics across the U.S., radiology is reminded daily that it is by no means exempt from the new and somewhat nebulous fiscal demands.

Consolidation and change are roiling the healthcare marketplace, and the repercussions are being felt throughout the vendor landscape, including the vibrant imaging IT segment that is so fundamental to the practice of 21st century radiology.

For all its high-tech gadgets, tools, prompts, aids and reminders, the modern radiology report really isn’t all that different from the first of its kind, rendered as a longhand note.

Those who think PACS optimization ends following a successful implementation should think again: Thirteen years after Portland, Ore.-based Legacy Health implemented Synapse PACS, the work is ongoing to keep 50-plus radiologists happy and maximally productive.

Modern cancer care urgently demands new approaches. Lives are at risk, and an ever increasing number of cancer patients and complex examinations constitute more of the radiologist's workload than ever before.

Industry watchers seemed intrigued but not especially surprised when Konica Minolta Medical Imaging announced its acquisition of 100 plus-employee Viztek in early October. The response was understandable, as the fusing was equal parts bold and sensible.