Traditions & Trends

The chaotic weeks wedged between RSNA and the holiday season provide a wonderful wisp of time to collectively catch our breath while looking ahead to the New Year.

Over the past several months, the entire Health Imaging team has honed its focus. In October, we abridged the name of our publication from Health Imaging & IT to Health Imaging and sharpened our core emphases to economics, practice and informatics to better meet our readers' needs.

With our sharpened mission, we look forward to delivering maximum value to our readers in an evolving market in 2012.

We've continued our December tradition, and delved into the future of radiology, examining critical economic and practice drivers. The triple whammy of healthcare reform, the Great Recession and accountable care raises the bar for radiology practices. A host of imaging leaders offer input and advice to help you prepare.

One trend that we've been tracking is patient-centric radiology. For the first time, Health Imaging analyzes a modality—MRI—from the patient perspective. It's no secret: the magnet may be the underbelly of imaging. Pioneers around the globe are rising to the challenge, tapping into new systems and processes to mitigate the fear and discomfort that often accompany MRI.

Another way to better meet patient-specific needs is to understand population-level disparities. Unfortunately, gender disparities are rampant in cardiac imaging and disease management. We review the data to offer new insights and help practices better understand and mitigate the situation.  

This year seemed to bring more than its fair share of severe weather and weather-related disasters, situations that can put hospitals and imaging departments to the test. One of the most important elements in the disaster plan is data storage, with cloud technology playing an ever-increasing role.

The following pages also include a primer on image management in endoscopy and pathology, and James H. Thrall MD, radiologist-in-chief at Massachusetts General Hospital, examines potential unintended consequences of healthcare reform through an historical lens.

Finally, during this season of reflection and introspection, please take a few minutes to consider helping to address global challenges in radiology.
  • The American College of Radiology has launched the Haiti Radiology Relief Fund.
  • Imaging the World brings low-cost, sustainable and scalable portable ultrasound imaging to remote and underserved areas worldwide.
  • RAD-AID is dedicated to the mission of increasing international radiology services in developing countries and optimizing radiology for public health initiatives.

Wishing you and yours a bright and peaceful holiday season and a productive and profitable New Year.

Around the web

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.

The newly cleared offering, AutoChamber, was designed with opportunistic screening in mind. It can evaluate many different kinds of CT images, including those originally gathered to screen patients for lung cancer. 

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