To get the attention of Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) attendees, Stamford, Conn.-based Fujifilm Medical demonstrated its latest version of Synapse PACs and Synapse RIS at the conference in Grapevine-Dallas, Texas, from June 6-9.

If imaging is to visualize its future accurately, it must do so by looking to business models outside the health-care arena, according to Dieter Enzmann, MD, chief of the department of radiology at the University of California–Los Angeles. “There are three generic models that exist in virtually every mature market,” he says. “There’s always a low

Kenneth Schwartz, MD, medical director of New York Radiology Alliance (NYRA) in Bedford Hills, describes today’s radiology-practice environment as characterized by catch-22s. “I’ve been in the business for many years, and I have never seen such a drastic change over such a short period,” he says. “The demands of customers, referring physicians, and

As radiology’s marketplace has achieved maturation, practices—more than ever—can (and should) take their cues from other industries, according to Curtis Kauffman-Pickelle, CEO of imagingBiz and a longtime consultant to radiology practices. “Radiology, as an institution, needs to look to successful models in businesses outside of medicine—the models

Patient engagement in health care (or patient-centered communication, as it’s often called) has been compared to marriage, where the relationship between care seeker and caregiver is based on trust, respect, openness, and empowerment.

A decade after starting Diagnostic Professionals, Inc (DPI), Claude Hanuschak, its COO, still refuses to let federal payment policy thwart his success. When faced with a 35% reimbursement reduction due to implementation of the DRA, the 30-year radiology veteran and president/COO of the four-site Florida imaging-center chain responded with a resolve to become more efficient, largely through a reliance on appropriate technology.

If the triple aim—improved access to better-quality health care at a lower cost—is the goal of health-care reform, then patient-centered care is its soul. Throughout the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the authors took precautions to protect patients from the abuses of 1990s-era managed care, when profits appeared to trump patient care.

When Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath devastated New York, New York, in October 2012, perhaps no one was more vulnerable than the patients needing care in area hospitals. Eli Tarlow, CIO of the city’s Bellevue Hospital Center (BHC), recalls, “It was the best of times and worst of times—a natural event that no one could have prevented. You really see the best of your staff in moments of crisis, and that held true during Hurricane Sandy. Staff members at all levels volunteered to do anything necessary, from bringing needed supplies up and down many flights of stairs to helping with preparing or delivering food for patients. Nothing came between the employees and the work that needed to be done to maintain patient care.”