As my partner Doug Smith is fond of saying, the awakening period for hospitals is upon us.

There is little question that consolidation and integration in the health-care sector is in full force and will continue to dominate the landscape in 2014—given the markedly high level of healthcare entities merger and acquisition activity in 2013, of that we can be certain.

In June 2012, Longview Regional Medical Center (LRMC) in Texas began a multimillion-dollar expansion aimed at making deeper integration of care delivery possible throughout the 230-bed hospital.

As initiatives for radiation-dose reduction take root in health systems and hospitals around the country—driven, in some cases, by state legislation mandating dose tracking and reporting—these organizations should be careful not to let messaging to patients fall by the wayside, according to Ian Judd, product manager for Sectra.

Despite a host of technical problems, more than 2 million people have already signed up for health coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) mandate.

Marked by plenty of merger/acquisition activity, 2013 was a more tumultuous year in the imaging industry than anticipated, according to Todd Sorensen, CVA, a partner with health-care valuation and advisory company VMG Health.

Many feel that the EMR is central to the health of the enterprise and promises to meet many needs. However, as stakeholders drill down into individual departments, there are areas where the EMR may fail to address the specific workflow of the caregivers in those specialties.

Like many people, Chris Tirabassi has watched the political parties duke it out over the relative merits of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. As practice administrator for CNY Diagnostic Imaging Associates LLC (Liverpool, New York), however, he has little time for philosophical discussion. Instead, Tirabassi is knee-deep in the meaningful-use mandates of the HITECH Act, as they apply to CNY’s Syracuse-area private practice of six radiologists.