I will be doing a Webinar on the differences between your PACS server and a VNA, as well as what to look for in a VNA (and in your PACS when connecting it to a VNA), on May 20, 2014 at 1 pm ET. We will have time for some Q&A, so it should be a good session.
Registration is free. Sign up here.
Here is another article (on Aunt Minnie; you likely need an account to access, but it’s free) predicting the deconstruction of PACS (and workflow management systems, like RIS). This mirrors many of the same predictions made in the article titled PACS 2018: An Autopsy, published in JDI recently.
The author’s observations on the lack of recent innovation in PACS is likely attributable to the saturation of PACS in mature markets. Would you invest the same amount in R&D on PACS in today’s environment as you would before the PACS “gold rush” of the mid-2000’s? I touched on this in a blog post a year ago after attending the SIIM 2013 Annual Meeting.
Check out this article on gamification and clinicians.
In Radiology practices, obvious applications of gamification is using the inherent social pressure of it to improve report turnaround/signing times and peer review quota compliance. Or, even clinician satisfaction of the report.
It could also be used to provide reward/advantage to technologists that provide superior service to patients and acquire good quality imaging exams.
Participating in continuing education opportunities—say, like by attending the SIIM Annual Meeting—could also earn “points” toward rewards.
To work, it needs to be based on meaningful activities, include an aspect of social pressure and provide rewards that matter to the participants.
Check out this article by my friend, Gorkem Sevinc, on open source software in imaging informatics. Remember to check out the Open Source Plugfest and the Hackathon at SIIM 2014 in Long Beach California.
A friend sent me this article on “intelligent virtual assistants” today.
I think this type of technology has merit, but not in the applications that they describe. Accessing patient history information (“Accessing prior reports and specific report content”) or performing a query (“show me all unread chest CT cases”) is already solved with effective EPR client/data integration and proper worklist configuration.
Where this has merit, I believe, is when the new report is being created, and specific words are used, the assistant can then comb through the available data and automatically create links (e.g. a link to lesion measurements before and after cancer treatment), highlight key info to the physician (e.g. because they used the word “x”, some potentially important lab values automatically pop up in the corner as a notice), or in communication (e.g. initiating real-time consults with an available colleague from a list of appropriate specialists based on specific words being used in the report).
To have value, the assistant has to automate the mundane and has to deal with context across data formats, like scrolling through several pages of info in the EMR to see is any of it relates to the current exam (i.e. will impact the reader’s diagnosis).
A lot has been written on consolidation of Radiology practices in the U.S.. This article in Radiology Today reiterates the economic and regulatory forces behind this trend, but also includes some points on the emotional aspects felt by those that built Radiology practices and are faced with selling.
One point not raised in the article is the operational efficiencies that can be found in IT consolidation. An effective IT organization using a modern image and management platform, backed with skilled staff can enable Radiologists to focus their efforts on quality of service delivery, and not on IT installation, configuration, upgrades, etc.
I contributed to an article recently published in the Journal of Digital Imaging. The primary author is Brad Genereaux (@IntegratorBrad). His blog is here.
This article examines the use of a REST API to discover, retrieve and use structured radiology report templates from an on-line report repository.
Check it out and let me know what you think.
Another article I submitted to the Journal of Digital Imaging has been published electronically.
This article compares the pros and cons of building a healthcare IT application in an Established Vendor, a Start-up or a Hospital Lab environment, examining aspects such as access to design input and validation to commercialization and transition to support.
Check it out and let me know what you think.
As the first calendar year of my blog draw to a close, I thought I would compile a list of my favorite blog posts from 2013. I hope everyone has a safe, happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
An article I submitted to the Journal of Digital Imaging has been published electronically.
Told from the year 2018, it looks back at the market and technical forces that results in the deconstruction of PACS (and RIS) as we know it.
Check it out and let me know what you think.
Don K Dennison 