Dear Healthcare IT Insider,
At last week's RSNA meeting, 2010 became the year in which healthcare IT moved out of the shadows and into a dominant place at the center of efforts to make radiology more efficient, appropriate, and cost-effective.
For a second consecutive year, the RSNA sponsored a "reading room of the future" at the Lakeside Learning Center consisting of interactive educational exhibits and presentations by experts about new quantitative technologies in the works. It seemed appropriate for this newsletter's Insider Exclusive to describe what AuntMinnie.com saw.
Implementing IT systems to reduce medical expenses and inappropriate use of medical resources was repeatedly referenced, whether at plenary sessions, informatics and refresher courses, or scientific paper and poster sessions. Do read about the statewide implementation of clinical decision-support software in Minnesota. This pioneering project, now entering its fourth year, may have practice-changing implications.
If you don't know that the RSNA has expanded its library of popular downloadable "best practice" report templates, check this out, and also learn about other activities under way. Learn what clinicians want in a critical results reporting system, and click here to learn how a missed communication motivated a Kentucky hospital to add results reporting.
Also well worth checking out:
- A patient-centric dashboard used at a hospital in Pakistan to identify bottlenecks
- An audit tool to improve accuracy in billing for use of contrast agents for CT and MRI exams
- Software that identifies and flags chest radiographs of patients suspected of having pneumonia
- An electronic stopwatch that records the actual times spent contacting physicians about critical or unexpected results
- A dashboard that monitors unread exams, ideal for large academic radiology departments
What did you discover at RSNA 2010 that would be of interest to the Healthcare IT Digital Community? Let AuntMinnie.com know.
Happy holidays!
