Healthcare IT Digital Community
To certify or not to certify, that is the question
 January 24, 2013 -- The recent buzz around the new Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise certification caused me to step back and think about the value of certification, and how it might affect -- and potentially better -- the implementation of healthcare imaging and information technology.
Mary's Musings: Imaging management and the new paradigm
 January 22, 2013 -- I had the nightmare of diagnosing my mother's terminal cancer myself, and she was dead within the week. This was after months of state-of-the-art care rendered by doctors at an esteemed academic medical center. How could this have happened in this millennium?
Sit up and beg: How to train your speech recognition system
 January 18, 2013 -- If your speech recognition system has you jumping through hoops, take the advice of an experienced user if you want to improve your productivity. Radiologist Dr. David L. Weiss believes that working with speech recognition is similar to training a dog: Consistency is key.
AAPM issues guidelines for radiation therapy error databases
January 18, 2013 -- With the goal of improving radiation therapy safety, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) has published technical recommendations to aid developers of databases that are designed to track and record treatment errors and near misses.
Medical societies say 'not so fast' with stage 3 meaningful use
January 17, 2013 -- Major healthcare organizations think the U.S. government may be moving too fast in its "meaningful use" program to convince healthcare providers to adopt electronic records. The groups are recommending that stage 3 requirements be delayed until the effectiveness of the meaningful use program can be evaluated.
Physicians prefer phone/fax over email for nonurgent alerts
December 27, 2012 -- A low-cost, low-tech centralized radiology notification system to convey nonurgent significant findings and amended reports is working well for both radiologists and physicians affiliated with a large teaching hospital in Sydney.
HIMSS survey finds improvements in data security
 December 21, 2012 -- Thanks in part to the U.S. government's meaningful use initiative, U.S. hospitals have increased security to protect their electronic records, according to the fifth annual security survey from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). Physician practices, however, have not been as progressive.
Chartrounds offers expert advice to radiation oncologists
 December 19, 2012 -- Where can radiation oncologists working in community hospitals get advice or feedback about a treatment plan for a patient? If they have an Internet connection, they can join Chartrounds, a virtual networking site that links radiation therapy luminaries with any practicing radiation oncologist in the world.
ACR Select moves ahead with debut at RSNA 2012
 December 18, 2012 -- If you were at RSNA 2012, you may have missed the small green booth along the edge of the South Building exhibit floor in McCormick Place. But ACR Select's debut RSNA appearance was an important harbinger of the progress the project is making in trying to solve the problem of inappropriate medical imaging utilization.
Survey confirms escalating use of EMRs/EHRs in U.S.
December 10, 2012 -- Nearly 75% of office-based physicians used an electronic medical or health record (EMR/EHR) system during 2012, according to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Almost 40% of these physicians have installed a basic system at their practice.
Adopting EMRs improves tracking of extravasation episodes
December 10, 2012 -- Adopting electronic medical records (EMRs) can help facilities improve their reporting of extravasation incidents that occur during contrast CT studies, researchers reported at the recent RSNA 2012 annual meeting.
Imaging IT offers bright spot in gloomy imaging industry
December 7, 2012 -- Exciting developments are under way in the imaging IT sector, which is benefiting from overall momentum in health IT. The segment has promising growth potential despite an overall slowdown in the medical imaging industry, according to analysis from market research firm Frost & Sullivan.
Mary's Musings: Head in the clouds at RSNA 2012
December 6, 2012 -- Not very long ago, it seems, I went to my first RSNA meeting. I was really impressed -- and I still am! Each year at RSNA, one gets a chance to peek ahead into the future: and ours is data. Data will allow us to step out of our black box of radiology and into our roles as physicians again.
Vendor-neutral archives offer imaging IT market opportunity
 December 6, 2012 -- Vendor-neutral archives have been adopted by just one-third of the U.S. hospital market, according to a new report by healthcare technology and consulting firm CapSite. The many facilities that have not yet adopted the technology create a prime target for vendors in the imaging IT sector.
Survey: Mobile devices expected to improve patient care
December 5, 2012 -- Healthcare IT professionals increasingly expect that the use of mobile devices will improve access to patient data and transform healthcare delivery in the U.S., according to a new survey from HIMSS Analytics.
Radiologists must exploit IT to secure their future: Part 2
 November 28, 2012 -- CHICAGO - To recapture their role as the "doctor's doctor," radiologists must be value innovators, said Dr. Paul Chang of the University of Chicago School of Medicine. Advances in information technology will be crucial for the specialty to demonstrate value and avoid commoditization.
Errors in reports are a 'sleeping giant of a problem'
November 28, 2012 -- CHICAGO - Errors due to voice recognition software are a "sleeping giant of a problem," a radiologist said during a question and answer session at RSNA on Tuesday afternoon. In any one line of his dictation, there's a 52% chance there will be an error, he added.
Radiologists must exploit IT to secure their future: Part 1
 November 27, 2012 -- CHICAGO - Although healthcare reform and alternatives to the traditional fee-for-service model pose challenges to radiology, advances in information technology can help radiologists clearly demonstrate their value in patient care, according to Dr. Keith Dreyer, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital.
Standardized workflow lexicon project SWIMs toward completion
November 27, 2012 -- CHICAGO - Optimizing workflow is a universal goal of any radiology department. Dashboards keep managers abreast of what's happening, but making comparisons is difficult because a standardized workflow lexicon doesn't exist. This will change with SWIM, according to a Monday scientific session at the RSNA meeting.
GE unites PACS and 3D, quiets MRI scans, shows ABUS at RSNA
 November 27, 2012 -- CHICAGO - A variety of new technology is on display in the RSNA booth of GE Healthcare, ranging from an automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) scanner to MRI noise reduction techniques. The vendor will also highlight new image viewing software that unifies its PACS and advanced visualization applications into a single viewing platform.
Meaningful use is achievable for academic radiology practices
November 26, 2012 -- CHICAGO - Should a U.S. academic radiology practice participate in the "meaningful use" initiative? An academic hospital with a program in place could provide significant benefits, but without it, there will be hurdles, according to a Sunday afternoon refresher course at the RSNA annual meeting.
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