Workflow engines have been deployed in a number of different industries and professions, from streamlining manufacturing to helping large law firms stay on task. Could workflow engines solve efficiency problems in radiology? Bradley J. Erickson, MD, PhD, suspects they can.

It's been a year and a half since Nuance Communications launched the Nuance PowerShare Network. It did so by acquiring the cloud-based medical image sharing company Accelarad and expanding its platform into a powerful web-based exchange for combined images and reports.

Anchored by eight hospitals throughout Colorado and Kansas, HCA Continental Division, part of the 165-hospital Hospital Corporation of America, knew it needed to eliminate or at least severely reduce management of medical imaging via CD uploading.

Due to improvements in both technology and the quality of patient care, there are currently more images being used in the healthcare industry than ever before.

Today, imaging has truly gone enterprise-wide, with medical centers needing to optimize their processes and technology to accommodate images from cardiology, pathology, dermatology and more.

Radiology can provide immense value to the healthcare system, not only through accurate diagnostic interpretations, but by helping direct the appropriate use of imaging.

Can advances and efficiencies in digital radiography (DR) technology improve patients’ perceptions of the x-ray department—and, in the process, help boost hospitals’ HCAHPS scores—ultimately leading to smarter marketing, maximized reimbursement and increased patient volume?

Portable x-ray may be a routine technology, but at a 554-bed hospital serving a sicker-than-average patient population, and housing a Level 1 trauma center and Level 1 burn center, there is nothing routine about the need for fast, reliable, portable x-ray capabilities.