Imaging Informatics

Imaging informatics (also known as radiology informatics, a component of wider medical or healthcare informatics) includes systems to transfer images and radiology data between radiologists, referring physicians, patients and the entire enterprise. This includes picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), wider enterprise image systems, radiology information. systems (RIS), connections to share data with the electronic medical record (EMR), and software to enable advanced visualization, reporting, artificial intelligence (AI) applications, analytics, exam ordering, clinical decision support, dictation, and remote image sharing and viewing systems.

Changing Radiology Landscape Warrants New Residency Curriculum

Radiology has come a long way in terms of education in business practices and health-care policy, with residency-training requirements in competencies related to these subjects in place for more than a decade. Further commitment to and innovation within these curricula are warranted, however.

Radiology and Web 2.0: Inside the World of Radblogging

When Sumer Sethi, MD, started his radiology site in 2004, the word blog was still a relatively recent invention, a shortening of the more formal term weblog. “In different fields, people had started to use weblogs as platforms for communicating with readers without the need for an expensive platform or publishing house,” Sethi (editor-in-chief of

Call to Interoperability Action: What Would Amazon Do?

Sponsored by FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas

In reviewing a schematic diagram of the integration points of the imaging information systems of Kaiser Northern California (Oakland), Richard (Skip) Kennedy, MS, bewails the current state of point-to-point integration in health care. Not only is this approach inefficient, time intensive, and wildly expensive, it’s not working very well.

Embarking on the Meaningful-use Path

Sponsored by FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas

How elusive is the goal of meaningful use among imaging groups? We know of only a handful of US radiology practices that have qualified. Relying on in-house talent is a great way to get it done, but not many practices have the personnel needed to research the complexities involved. Selecting and deploying the correct technology, and then attesting

Finding Greater Meaning in Stage 2 Meaningful Use

Sponsored by FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas

Proposed rules for stage 2 of the federal government’s electronic health record (EHR) incentive program were issued in late February, and the reaction from the radiology community has been somewhat favorable (unlike its response to the rules for stage 1). Proposed rules from CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for HIT include specific

2012 Renews Reimbursement Focus for Radiology

As another congressional session progresses, lobbyists representing radiology organizations on Capitol Hill have their sights set on preventing further cuts to imaging services under Medicare, especially as debate intensifies over fixing the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula.

Radiology in Uzbekistan and Beyond: Leveraging Telemedicine With MSF

Programs like Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, do invaluable work in bringing advanced medical care to developing and unstable nations. Often overlooked, however, is the role that radiology plays. As the diagnostic specialty, radiology can be critical in clinical scenarios where imaging plays an essential role,

Power to the Radiologist: Steps Toward Ensuring the Specialty’s Future

Radiology is at a crossroads, and the future of the profession will be determined by the decisions that radiologists make today, according to John Patti, MD, and Pat Basu, MD. In “Critical Issues Facing the Profession of Radiology: An ACR® Leadership Perspective,” which Patti copresented on November 28, 2011 at the annual meeting of the RSNA, he