The need for radiologist leaders has become crystal clear. However, examples of imaging leadership may be less evident. The conventional expression of imaging excellence—diagnostic excellence—is necessary but not sufficient. This week’s top news illustrates two opportunities for leadership.

The flip of the calendar page to Jan. 1, 2013, adds a controversial new quality measure reporting requirement. Hospitals will need to report healthcare personnel's influenza vaccination to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Payment determination based on the measure will begin in FY 2015 and represents a 2 percent reduction for failure to report.

Healthcare delivery and the wider public infrastructure should be considered an integrated whole when planning for or responding to disasters such as Hurricane Sandy, according to an article published online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Houston Medical Imaging (HMI), a chain of three outpatient imaging centers in Texas, has tested Carestream Health’s MyVue patient portal.

The Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute, a medical imaging socioeconomic research organization established by the American College of Radiology (ACR), is accepting proposals for research grants.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has become the first state health agency to take the Image Wisely/Image Gently pledge to promote optimal use of medical imaging technology.

The spread of the accountable care organization (ACO) model has sparked legitimate causes for concerns among radiologists, but these threats will be lessened if radiology groups shift from a “film reader” mentality to emphasizing added value to a larger organization, according to an article published in the December issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

The Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., has agreed to change the way that patients are admitted for brain imaging procedures, in response to a lawsuit by a brain-injured patient whose family says she was left without a physician for several hours while she was having an undetected stroke after a procedure in the hospital's radiology department.