In the May 2011 issue of Journal of the American College of Radiology: JACR, the ACR® Future Trends Committee¹ published a paper focused on helping radiologists manage the transition to value-based purchasing. The paper outlines roles for radiologists that might be helpful in successfully participating in accountable-care organizations (ACOs).

Health care in the United States is evolving rapidly, and Bruce Lehrman, MD, president of Diagnostic Imaging Inc (DII), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, believes that radiology is in the forefront of change in the industry. “I’ve never seen the landscape in health care changing more rapidly than it is now, and leading that change is radiology,” he says.

When Rob Smith walked into a rural Kentucky emergency department on a Saturday afternoon in the summer of 2011, he knew nothing of the distributed-reading contract put in place just a week before. This fortuitous timing led to prompt care for his aching wrist—a direct result of services from Radiology Imaging Consultants, Harvey, Illinois.

When radiologists Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston dropped off their wireless devices at the information-services department, it was a sign of the times. On a mission to verify proper encryption, IT gurus examined all manner of devices—hard drives, flash drives, tablets, and smartphones.

The thought of health IT leaders managing the mobility trend conjures up images of Heracles attempting to slay the multiheaded Hydra. Every time he cut off one head, two more grew in its place: Think iOS®, Android®, Symbian®, BlackBerry®, Windows®, and bada®, with Mango and other mobile platforms in the wings.

Immediate access to patient information is a powerful catalyst for improving the caliber of care in the radiology sector, as well as in other clinical disciplines. For OhioHealth (Columbus), enabling the mobile communications network to handle images represents the next step in enhancing physician collaboration and physician–patient communication,

The ability to access online decision support solutions from within a PACS environment increases radiologists’ use of these tools, reveals a study in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology. However, integrated access must be provided upon system deployment rather than down the road.

Accessing high-quality radiology services in rural areas of the United States always represents a challenge, and nowhere is this dilemma more poignant to both patients and providers than in the area of mammography. Arlene Sussman, MD, director of breast imaging at Virtual Radiologic (vRad), Eden Prairie, Minnesota, says, “Imagine waiting months to