In dissecting stage 2 of the meaningful-use program, Alberto Goldszal, MBA, PhD, drolly summarizes the meaningful-use challenge for radiologists: “In the meaningful-use rules, you are going to see some specific examples of things that are changing the radiology workflow that are perceived as a contraindication for radiology efficiency,” he says. “Overall, it does improve patient care—at least, that is the intended goal.”

For Colorado Springs Radiologists/PENRAD Imaging (Colorado Springs, Colorado), state-of-the-art imaging equipment and IT solutions have long supported a mission to offer top-tier patient care while maintaining a high degree of efficiency overall. A recent move to support this mission by replacing its RIS and billing systems has led the practice to the brink of Stage 1 meaningful use Stage 1 attestation, slated to occur shortly after January 1, 2014.

Mortsel, Belgium/Greenville, SC – 16 December 2013 – Agfa HealthCare announces today the first two U.S. sales of IMPAX Agility, a brand new imaging platform that unifies the functionalities provided by traditionally disparate RIS, PACS, reporting, 3-D, connectivity and clinical applications. Montgomery General Hospital, Montgomery, West Virginia, and Open Systems Imaging, Palm Desert, California, selected IMPAX Agility to boost their business success by simplifying IT integration efforts and providing a cost-saving image management platform. Both customers have chosen Agfa HealthCare’s managed services deployment model due to its reliability, predictability and userfriendliness.   With Agfa HealthCare’s managed service, both IMPAX Agility customers never need to worry about storage hardware availability, maintenance or obsolescence during the term of their contracts with Agfa HealthCare.

American Fork, Utah, December 16, 2013 – Novarad expands its southern PACS installations adding a community hospital and clinic. The contracts, facilitated by Novarad South, a Novarad distributor, include:- Pioneer Health Services of Oneida, a clinic in Oneida, Tenn.- Macon County General Hospital in Lafayette, Tenn.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN-- Dec 17, 2013 - Virtual Radiologic (vRad), the nation's largest radiology practice, announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued the Company's 12th and 13th patents. Patent No. 8,612,250, titled "Multiple Resource and Planning System," and Patent No. 8,612,253, titled "Medical Image Metadata Processing," further enhance vRad's patent portfolio covering its teleradiology image processing, multiple resource planning and workflow systems, with the patents including additional claims around the processing and assignment of complex medical diagnostic imaging evaluation orders.

Kortrijk, Belgium, 3 December 2013 – Healthcare imaging specialist Barco introduces the MXRT-7500, a brand-new 3D PCIe display controller supporting up to 4 full resolution displays. The first board to offer compatibility with the DisplayPort 1.2 interface standard, the MXRT-7500 features the PCIe 3.0 interface and the latest in AMD FireProTM 3D technology, ensuring ultra-fast loading of medical images and large datasets.

Wayne, NJ, December 4, 2013 – GE Healthcare (NYSE: GE) and Konica Minolta Inc. have signed a global distribution agreement (*) of Konica Minolta’s AeroDR cassette-size digital X-ray imaging retrofit. Having built a collaborative relationship for nearly ten years related to the sales of computed radiography in the United States, the two partners have now agreed to expand their strategic alliance, with GE Healthcare distributing AeroDR not just within the United States, but globally as well, using GE Healthcare sales channels.

SALEM, NH (December 11, 2013) – A unique dual-head molecular breast imaging (MBI) system  detected significantly more difficult-to-find cancers than  traditional mammography according to a new study presented at the 99th Annual Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Robin Shermis, MD of ProMedica Toledo Hospital Breast Care Center presented, Dedicated Dual-Head Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) as an Adjunct to Mammography in Patients with Dense Breast Tissue and/or Elevated Risk for Breast Cancer, which evaluated patients retrospectively using the LumaGEM® MBI system from Gamma Medica. More than four times as many cancers were seen on MBI (23 of 125) than were on mammography (5 of 125).