Today there is no question that a digital infrastructure – modalities and information systems – increase departmental efficiency and productivity, while at the same time enhances patient care. Digital radiography – whether it is the phosphor-based computed radiography (CR) or flat panel detector-based direct radiography – are at the cornerstone of this evaluation.

In today’s environment of increasing accountability and cost optimization, radiology centers are seeking ways to manage their capital expenses, their operational expenses and achieve ROI for their investments.
When Larry Lempka, director of Radiology at Campbell County Memorial Hospital, evaluated a PACS for his 90-bed community and trauma hospital, his selection criteria included system functionality, scalability and affordable upfront cost as well as minimal continuing operational expenses.

Healthcare organizations around the world are actively looking for new ways to improve the flow of work throughout their facilities. With the goal of increased productivity, cost-savings and improved quality of care in mind, one such organization set out to improve workflows specific to its radiology department.

As one of the first hospitals in Missouri to be built under the Hill Burton Act of 1946, Madison Medical Center serves the rural communities of Madison County in the southeastern corner of the state. Since 1961, the facility has been the only local hospital that provides accessible, quality healthcare. In 2000, Madison Medical Center gained designation as a Critical Access Hospital licensed for 25 beds.

Emory University radiation oncologists recently launched a program for treating brain tumors with frameless radiosurgery using the Trilogy medical linear accelerator and other image-guidance tools from Varian Medical Systems. This state-of-the-art treatment enables physicians to accurately position and monitor patients during radiation treatment using both optical guidance cameras and cone-beam CT, which obviates the need for a standard rigid headframe.

The new home for Hoag Breast Care Center in Newport Beach, CA, is the Sue and Bill Gross Women’s Pavilion. The Pavilion is a multimillion dollar medical facility dedicated to providing women with the highest quality healthcare services.

The University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics in Madison, WI, is at the forefront of medical research and technology, so it makes sense that the first prototype image-guided IMRT system produced by TomoTherapy Inc. was installed in the same university where the research began over 15 years ago.
Minesh Mehta, M.D., UW professor of Human Oncology, has been a TomoTherapy user since 2001. He has overseen the transition from the world’s first clinical TomoTherapy research system to the upgrade of a production Hi·Art System in 2004.

When St. Mary’s Hospital in Leonardtown, MD, wanted to boost its lagging MRI volume, it went to an extreme. The 105-bed rural hospital became the 100th purchaser of an ONI Medical Systems high-field, high-performance dedicated MRI extremity scanner, relying on it as a cost-effective and practical complement to its seven-year-old whole-body MRI device.

When opening a new imaging outpatient center or expanding and improving on current services and business capabilities, it is hard to imagine an operator can prosper without a Radiology Information System (RIS).

As if RSNA wasn’t big enough, expect it to be even bigger this year. As the scope of radiology widens, so does the category of radiology subspecialties. RSNA 2006 has designed its program to reflect this change, adding to its curriculum important research across multiple radiology subspecialties – cardiac radiology, emergency radiology, neuroradiology, vascular and interventional radiology, breast/mammography, gastrointestinal radiology and genitourinary radiology, to name just a few.
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