AHRA 2012: Dispatches from the Exhibit Floor

The American Healthcare Radiology Administrators (AHRA) annual meeting winds up today and the vendors will be packing their booths. Here are some of the news items that caught our eye at the conference.

Montage Healthcare Highlights their Business Performance, Productivity and Quality Improvement Analytics

Montage Healthcare Solutions demonstrated their suite of search-based radiology data mining and analytics tools in the exhibit hall. According to the company, it leverages the power and simplicity of today’s search and web technologies to provide immediate access to valuable clinical, quality and business performance information inherent in a Radiology Information System (RIS) or Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system. Rather than relying of customized reports and templates that can limit flexibility and create a dependence on others, the Montage Healthcare search-based approach puts access and control in the hands of the decision maker, the company says.

Carestream Debuts Time-Saving Business Intelligence/Reporting Dashboard; New Features for Image Viewer

Carestream’s new Vue Beyond for Radiology delivers a real-time view of departmental workflow that can help radiology administrators improve productivity and profitability, it says. The dashboard, which is currently available for order, shows a real-time queue of studies waiting for report, report turnaround time per radiologist and productivity levels for every member of the imaging department. Vue Beyond tracks study volumes, modality usage, patient type and critical results notification. It can be used to manage multiple sites with a single, web-based point of access to relevant information. In addition, Carestream’s Vue Motion vendor-neutral imaging viewer provides on demand access to images, data and reports from workstations or mobile devices like the iPad. New features for the viewer include the display of current and prior images side-by-side and the ability for clinicians to input order notes to the exam.

Konica Minolta Showcases its Digital Radiography Solutions

Konica Minolta demonstrated their Aero DR wireless flat panel detector and portable solution at AHRA, as well as the ImagePilot CR with Informity. Aero DR is the world’s most lightweight wireless DR weighing in at 6.3 lbs, according to Konica Minolta. It also features a unique battery design for extended life and short charge cycles. Its 17-by-17-inch and 14-by-17-inch detectors incorporate Konica Minolta’s Cesium Iodide (CsI) scintillator that boast ultra-high detector quantum efficiency (DQE) and uses Konica Minolta’s very low power IC design to decrease read-out noise and further raise DQE. The Aero DR Portable Retrofit Solution is designed for a quick, easy and inexpensive transformation from analog to digital, the company says. Lightweight and cable-free, it simplifies patient and image detector positioning while reducing patient discomfort and stress during portable procedures. With a very small footprint (15.5 by 15.5 by 3 inches), the unit can be installed and stored inside the cassette storage bin. For alternate care sites, the ImagePilot Sigma digital radiography solution with Informity, is a cloud-based archive, disaster recovery, image sharing and information portal solution. ImagePilot Sigma includes the Konica Minolta’s new tabletop CR reader weighing less than 62 pounds with a small footprint. With Informity, users can collaborate with referring physicians and other specialists, receive remote support including software updates and virus protection, and access service and support history and status, the company says

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View our album of exhibit floor photos here.