Enterprise Imaging

Enterprise imaging brings together all imaging exams, patient data and reports from across a healthcare system into one location to aid efficiency and economy of scale for data storage. This enables immediate access to images and reports any clinical user of the electronic medical record (EMR) across a healthcare system, regardless of location. Enterprise imaging (EI) systems replace the former system of using a variety of disparate, siloed picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), radiology information systems (RIS), and a variety of separate, dedicated workstations and logins to view or post-process different imaging modalities. Often these siloed systems cannot interoperate and cannot easily be connected. Web-based EI systems are becoming the standard across most healthcare systems to incorporate not only radiology, but also cardiology (CVIS), pathology and dozens of other departments to centralize all patient data into one cloud-based data storage and data management system.

UC Davis Medical Center Embarks on Journey to Reduce Dose by 20%

Sponsored by FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas

Dose management (including dose-reduction strategies) is a dominant topic of conversation throughout the imaging world. Cross-disciplinary efforts to resolve the issue are moving to the forefront of both vendor and provider dockets, spurred on not least by quality metrics that tie reimbursement rates to patient outcomes.

Productivity Pressure: IT Unlocks New Radiologist and Referrer Capabilities

Health IT continues to advance at a breakneck pace, and recent developments hold enormous potential for enhancing the productivity of both radiologists and the physicians who refer to them, according to Rick Jennings, CTO of Virtual Radiologic (vRad), Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jennings shared his perspective on some recent developments in health IT

Value-based Purchasing: From Theory to Practice

In the May 2011 issue of Journal of the American College of Radiology: JACR, the ACR® Future Trends Committee¹ published a paper focused on helping radiologists manage the transition to value-based purchasing. The paper outlines roles for radiologists that might be helpful in successfully participating in accountable-care organizations (ACOs).

Quantum Leap: Radiology Groups Consolidate to Grow

Health care in the United States is evolving rapidly, and Bruce Lehrman, MD, president of Diagnostic Imaging Inc (DII), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, believes that radiology is in the forefront of change in the industry. “I’ve never seen the landscape in health care changing more rapidly than it is now, and leading that change is radiology,” he says.

Devising—and Enforcing—an Imaging Mobility Policy

Sponsored by FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas

When radiologists Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston dropped off their wireless devices at the information-services department, it was a sign of the times. On a mission to verify proper encryption, IT gurus examined all manner of devices—hard drives, flash drives, tablets, and smartphones.

Not Just Another App: Managing Mobility at UPMC

Sponsored by FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas

The thought of health IT leaders managing the mobility trend conjures up images of Heracles attempting to slay the multiheaded Hydra. Every time he cut off one head, two more grew in its place: Think iOS®, Android®, Symbian®, BlackBerry®, Windows®, and bada®, with Mango and other mobile platforms in the wings.

OhioHealth: Images to Go

Sponsored by FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas

Immediate access to patient information is a powerful catalyst for improving the caliber of care in the radiology sector, as well as in other clinical disciplines. For OhioHealth (Columbus), enabling the mobile communications network to handle images represents the next step in enhancing physician collaboration and physician–patient communication,

PACS Integration Fosters Use of Decision Support Tools

The ability to access online decision support solutions from within a PACS environment increases radiologists’ use of these tools, reveals a study in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology. However, integrated access must be provided upon system deployment rather than down the road.