Radiology informatics vendors offer cornucopia of products

Radiology's informatics sector encompasses a broad spectrum of application services, from RIS to voice recognition to integration software, all of which will be well and widely represented at the 2005 RSNA show.

This year has seen new stimulus in the U.S. for the near-moribund electronic healthcare record (EHR). Once the hot new frontier of healthcare informatics in the early 1990s, EHR languished in subsequent years but has come roaring back through the appointment of Dr. David Brailer, national coordinator for health information technology at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Increased attention has also come from well-funded blue-ribbon panels and commissions tasked with standards development and interoperability.

The recent past has also seen the widespread deployment by vendors of both integrated and bundled RIS and PACS products as facilities and practices recognize the productivity benefits of incorporating diagnostic images with reports. Continuing with this theme, radiology informatics developers are redoubling their already considerable efforts to ensure that these critical healthcare systems are interfaced and available on the enterprise and regional level as part of an EHR strategy.

Innovative applications, features, and products from both new and well-established information technology developers await RSNA conference attendees as they browse the exhibit halls of Chicago's McCormick Place later this month. To preview the leading edge of radiology informatics products for the coming year, just click on a link below.