Radiologists are clinicians consultants. We direct clinical management based on our expert interpretation of patient images. Yet, in many cases, radiology reports may not reflect our clinical expertise. Common problems include overuse of vague terminology and omission of the impression. Addressing these flaws can go a long way toward meeting clinicians needs and improving patient care.

Streamlining interaction between imaging departments and referring clinicians not only saves time, lives, and duplicate studies, but can also improve productivity. One of the most powerful new approaches to eliminating the physical and networking barriers to image sharing is the use of cloud computing.

As someone who has found himself—more than once—in a mad dash to catch the day’s last FedEx® pickup so that an out-of-town physician could have a patient’s images stat, Tom Hasley sees the wisdom of a cloud-based solution to image delivery. Hasley is systems support manager, ambulatory services, for Rex Healthcare (Raleigh, North Carolina), and he

Patients are at the center of control in an ongoing effort by the RSNA to standardize the way that medical images are shared on the Internet. In August 2011, The RSNA Image Share Network started enrolling its first patients to have images and reports stored electronically, through an online network accessible anywhere in the world.

Charleston Radiologists in South Carolina is an 18-radiologist group that covers three hospitals, as well as several urgent-care centers and physicians’ offices that offer medical imaging. Michael Garovich, MD, a radiologist with the group, says, “For images from these smaller, outside entities to get into our PACS, the demographic information had

In November, CMS released the final rule for the formation of accountable-care organizations (ACOs), intended to spark a transition away from fee-for-service medicine and toward value-based purchasing. Groups of providers can begin registering as ACOs as early as April 2012, positioning themselves to be paid according to their ability to reduce

Robert Pyatt, MD, a radiologist with Chambersburg Imaging Associates in Pennsylvania, recalls well the decision that his practice made to contract with a teleradiology group, almost 10 years ago. “We started with teleradiology in the fall of 2002,” he says. “Before then, we would be up all night reading cases. Then, life got a lot better—we would

There is no more compelling story in radiology today than the urgency with which organized radiology and imaging modality vendors have come together to address the issue of dose management in radiology. Yes, more work lies ahead, and significant challenges remain—but the swiftness and decisiveness with which providers and vendors have cooperated,