Case Studies

When it comes to ensuring patients receive the best possible imaging experience, Star Valley Medical Center in Afton, Wyo. went the extra mile so that patients don’t have to.

Imagine trying to find a white rabbit in a field of snow. This scenario is similar to what radiologists go through when looking for tumors in a woman with dense breasts, as both normal fibroglandular tissue and abnormal masses appear white on a mammogram.

Lawrence Carl, MD, is the medical director for Main Street Radiology (MSR) in Queens, N.Y., a board-certified radiologist and assistant radiology professor at Weill Cornell. His medical director responsibilities include keeping an eye out for emerging technologies to positively impact workflow and patient care in outpatient radiology. To that end, Dr. Carl leads MSR administration and technology professionals to multiple educational events each year.

HIMSS 2017 was in Orlando, Fla., last month, and officials at FUJIFILM Medical Systems U.S.A., Inc. say it was yet another hugely successful show for the company. 

Streaming technology is the future made present to those who want to watch movies anywhere at any time. It’s becoming the same thing to radiologists, clinicians and patients who want mobile access to medical images.

The imaging division at John Muir Health in California’s Contra Costa County has been supplying topnotch image-handling capabilities to end users located across the system’s sprawling family tree—three hospitals, seven outpatient imaging centers, a 1,000-plus physician network and a dozen or so sites providing outpatient, urgent-care and surgery services—since 2001. That’s when Sectra PACS entered the picture for the Walnut Creek-based organization.

On Jan. 30, MEDNAX announced the acquisition of Radiology Alliance, the largest private practice radiology group in Tennessee. With this acquisition, MEDNAX officially entered the world of onsite radiology. Shannon Werb, president and COO of vRad, a MEDNAX company, spoke with imagingBiz about this announcement and what it means for MEDNAX, vRad and other private practice radiology groups throughout the country.

When national health solutions partner MEDNAX, Inc., announced the acquisition of vRad in May 2015, radiology market watchers wondered where the 50-state teleradiology giant would fit under its new parent’s umbrella. What led to MEDNAX’s interest in radiology? And, to get even more specific, why teleradiology?

The IT team at Western Reserve Hospital, a 105-bed, physician-owned institution in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, already had considerable experience with remotely hosted solutions. In 2015, the time came to consider a remote option for its new PACS. 

The security of patient data continues to be one of the biggest topics affecting healthcare providers today. How can these cyberattacks be stopped once they’ve been discovered? How can they be avoided altogether? 

While helping to steer 105-bed Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, toward a remotely hosted PACS solution, Jeffrey Unger, MD, repeatedly voiced one crucial concern: Would he and his fellow radiologists have to wait at their workstations, precious seconds ticking away, while PACS servers sitting hundreds of miles away processed massive datasets?

Radiology Alliance, Tennessee’s largest private practice radiology group, wasn’t necessarily looking for an acquisition or a merger, but when national health solutions partner MEDNAX reached out, it was an opportunity they had to consider.