The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information technology (ONC) on Monday released the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015-2020 with a definitive focus on interoperability. 

When vRad rolled out its latest “Look in the Mirror” Radiology Patient Care (RPCSM) Indices and Global Practice Information (GPISM) reports this past fall—the latest free-to-subscribers offerings in the company’s mushrooming analytics portfolio—CIO Shannon Werb paused to think back over his first year with the company. Driving change was the subject at hand when Werb recently took questions from imagingBiz.

As 2014 winds to a close, three of radiology's brightest thought leaders offer predictions on the year ahead. There is big power in big data. Moving forward into 2015 and beyond, how do radiology practices aggregate data in a way that creates what the world of Silicon Valley has shown us to be the new paradigm? Curtis Kauffman-Pickelle, president and CEO of The Kauffman Group and publisher of ImagingBiz, asks that very question when asked to look ahead.

According to Hermann Requardt, CEO of Siemens Healthcare at a briefing during the 100th Annual Meeting of the RSNA, "Healthcare is showing signs not of instability, but of transition. The US is feeling frustrated, according to health economists, that we don't get enough value from every dollar spent on healthcare in this country, compared with other countries that are spending less."

In the opening session of the 100th Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), current president, N. Reed Dunnick, MD presented Theodore S. Lawrence, MD. PhD., with the Outstanding Researcher Award, recognizing his significant contributions and long-term commitment to radiological research.

Dr. Karen DeSalvo recently announced her departure from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to assist in the federal government's Ebola response efforts, but will continue to be involved in federal health information technology efforts as well. 

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) recently announced a partnership with KLAS Enterprises, a research firm, to accelerate and enhance industry performance and support all stakeholders in healthcare transformation.

Radiology business managers help practices thrive in our challenging health care climate. They possess a level of sophisticated business experience sought out by radiologists who are being forced to take time away from patient care to attend to the business responsibilities of the practice. However, a business manager who steps in to handle these duties and alleviate the pressure on physicians still needs to approach them to obtain buy-in on various major practice decisions. The larger the practice, the more daunting this task can appear. David Myrice, director of practice management for Zotec Partners, walks us through the important steps in obtaining radiologist buy-in on important practice decisions.