2004 March

Faster image retrieval, reductions in transcription costs and eliminating repeat studies are among the benefits of ridding your department of videotapes in favor of digitally managing echo exams.

Using imaging and robotic devices to improve cardiovascular surgical procedures and speed patient recovery is beginning to bump some more invasive cardiovascular surgeries.

You put a lot of careful thought into the selection and purchase of your IT equipment. After all, these items are sometimes delicate, often pricey, and are often the center of your larger technology plan. But how much thought do you put into the selection and purchase of your racks and enclosures, those items that hold your important servers, CPUs, monitors, and other components?

Improving patient care in today's busy and overloaded imaging environment means automating and continually refining digital workflow - an impossible endeavor without an efficient radiology information system.

Effectively managing images cradle to grave is all about good planning. See why some facilities see offsite storage as the best plan.

Dr. Ramin Khorasani, MD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital, deployed evidence-based methodologies that have brought measuable - and impressive - results.

As PAC systems evolve and grow in importance, the prerequisites, roles and responsibilities of PACS administrators are morphing, too.

It was about a year ago that I did not receive a reply to an e-mail for several days from a PAC system administrator at a major institution in Houston. After three days, I called her and asked whether there might be a problem - finding out that the e-mail system had been down for three days, hopefully to be back up in another day or so.

When the American College of Cardiology meets this month in New Orleans, healthcare cost, quality and clinical excellence will be on the minds of all. And the importance of more effectively managing cardiology care-related images and information is at the core.