Open Health Tools, a nonprofit trade association that encourages open-source creation of health IT tools, is working with the Georgia Institute of Technology on a public-private initiative to provide a virtual environment where healthcare professionals from various industries, sectors and backgrounds can collaborate on health IT projects.

Iron Mountain and NetApp have teamed up to provide cloud data storage that can serve as an archive for medical data and provide disaster recovery services. The two companies shared a booth and showcased their partnership at the 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago, Nov. 27 to Dec. 2.

CHICAGOWith the number and frequency of incidentalomas on the rise, researchers have sought to quantify the economic impact of the finding and reported that followup can potentially double the cost of the index study depending on the frequency of the finding and the type of followup, according to a presentation on Nov. 30 at the 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

CHICAGOAfter trouncing human intelligence on the television game show Jeopardy last February, IBMs supercomputer Watson may make its way into radiology departments in the future, according to research presented by Nick van Terheyden, MD, chief medical information officer of Nuance Communications, based in Burlington, Mass., at a Nov. 29 presentation during the 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

More facilities have turned to virtualization and cloud data storage as part of the comprehensive disaster recovery plan.

In the era of health IT and meaningful use, many providers are looking for a one-stop shop to house all their cardiovascular reporting needs. However, in terms of the cardiovascular information system (CVIS), most users reported that their system was only 65 percent complete, and most are still looking for an all-in-one solution to meet their needs, according to an October KLAS report titled, Will the Complete CVIS Please Stand Up?

SAN ANTONIOAs more and more medical equipment comes into use, technicians who understand both the technology and the clinician applications, are in greater demand. A biomedical engineering department is the answer for Baylor Health Care System in Dallas. Two leaders from the organization spoke about this at CHIME11, the Fall CIO Forum.

Nine percent of healthcare providers are over the halfway point in terms of being fully prepared for ICD-10, according to a report from market researcher KLAS.