Business analytics can help administrators pinpoint problem areas to boost service, patient care and efficiency.

New CT service contract options offer an enticing source of cost-savings for savvy departments.

Healthcare expenditures in the U.S. are astronomical, and according to a statistical brief by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), inpatient hospital costs could be the culprit. In fact, the brief outlined that in 2009 alone there were 39.4 million inpatient stays in U.S. community hospitals, which resulted in a $361.5 billion price tag.

Among IT decision-makers who believe their IT budgets will increase next year, those working in healthcare are the most confident that theyll have more to spend. Responding to a survey, 53 percent of health IT professionals who presumed budget increases in the next six months also indicated high levels of confidence in their presumptions.

Using cardiovascular disease as a test bed, two health economists developed a model for categorizing technologies and their impact on healthcare outcomes and costs. Despite successful technologies such as beta-blockers, the overall use of expensive technologies with modest benefits contributed to rising costs, the researchers noted in a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Concerns about radiation dose and the introduction of new wide-bore options have reinvigorated the MRI market, according to a report from Orem, Utah-based market researcher KLAS.

  CHICAGO—With the spate of recent breakups between hospitals and radiology groups, Vijay Madan Rao, MD, chair of radiology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, explored the causes behind these breakups and offered strategies for radiology groups to communicate their value to hospitals, during a session on Dec. 1 at the 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

Although its difficult to determine if a high-value healthcare organizations specific tactics will work elsewhere, Harvard Business Schools Richard M.J. Bohmer believes that by emulating the shared habits of successful integrated networks, others can learn how to reliably deliver higher value.