RSNA 5-Day Forecast

Ms. PACS: I was looking into my crystal ball, trying to see what to expect at RSNA 2009 next week, when I saw...a huge smudge - I needed Windex. So in my quest to seek out truth and wisdom, I turned on the TV. Clicked on the weather channel. To my surprise, standing in front of a large map, it was Willard Scott! I wondered if it was an old VCR recording…but realized it was in fact 2009. Maybe Willard’s 401K had taken a nosedive, forcing him out of retirement. In any case, despite his feeble yet rotund state, he did provide some sound data in his RSNA 5-Day Forecast.

Willard said: “You can expect to see:

1. Low res images sent from PACS to EMR: If you go to the BRIT Systems booth, you will see their new Webworks solution. Referring physicians and their patients now have access to diagnostic images with a new browser-based application for viewing patient images and reports on any computer with an Internet connection and a browser. The new application also provides access to radiologists for low volume review. The platform uses AJAX for real-time updating of patient lists and clustering technology for redundancy and load balancing.

INFINITT Accent also allows PACS-based medical images to be accessed along with all other types of medical information on any Internet-enabled terminal. A new PACS offering for EMR, HIS and practice management vendors fully integrates the complete range of medical images with EMR software of almost any kind.

2. Vendor-neutral archiving will be one of the big themes on the exhibit hall floor.
Carestream will show its vendor neutral PACS and storage/archive solutions, which brings disparate PACS and data systems into a shared, long-term data management solution that can streamline management tasks and reduce costs.

3. Bathroom breaks: The bathroom wait times on the RSNA exhibit hall floor will be approximately 3 minutes long (which is a 2 minute drop from last year)…except in the ladies room - that will remain the standard 15 minutes.

4. New PACS: Siemens will introduce the new PACS that appeared on Dalai’s PACS Blog last week (http://doctordalai.blogspot.com/)

5. RSNA unveils structured reporting templates – The RSNA has established a Radiology Reporting Committee to identify and promote "best practices" in radiology reporting. June 2008: RSNA convened a workshop to plan the future of radiology reporting. More than 50 radiologists, medical informatics specialists, and representatives of cardiology, oncology, and pathology participated. Consensus was reached on a global template for diagnostic radiology reports, including standardized radiology report headings.

December 2009: RSNA will release the first set of reporting templates, freely available for downloading and use. (http://reportingwiki.rsna.org/index.php?title=Main_Page)

Have you seen the Google “radiology-report” site with RSNA radiology structured reporting templates. It contains RELAX-NG templates for radiology-structured reports. The code is from the GNU free software operating system. Someone at Medical College of Wisconsin is developing it.

By the way, Stage 6 of the EMR Adoption Model requires structured reporting systems.

6. Fuji 86's its annual House of Blues (HOB) party – is it due to NEMA code of ethics? When did fun equate unethical behavior? Do you really think a doctor is going to buy equipment just because you buy him a beer…and it's only a buffet dinner – not an intimate candlelight engagement with a contract on the table. Granted, I have witnessed some embarrassing behavior at such events…but the moral infractions usually happen after the party, not on HOB premises. The silver lining is that like any enforced code of conduct, there’s a loophole, or a lawyer to find one for you. Some companies are keeping it ethical by throwing a charity event. At least some of the frivolity goes to those in need. It’s all about balance.

7. White flag: The CT slice wars will officially come to a stalemate as attentions focus on lowering the dose.

8. Pocket diagnostics: Ultrasound debuts as a new iPhone feature – for both diagnostic purposes and pure entertainment. Talk about consumer driven healthcare.

9. E-Ordering imaging exams: To meet with stage 4 of the EMR adoption, CPOE and CDSS (Clinical Decision Support Systems). Evidence-based medicine makes sense, but it’s hard to get physicians to actually use it. IT tools that provide decision support at the time they make decisions may help close that gap. Kind of like the little Einstein on PCs (or you can make it a cat) that alerts you when it has a suggestion or detects a potential error. I heard Bill Gates’ wife, Melinda, came up with the idea for that little alert icon – but man is it annoying. I have to use the cat icon so at least its cute and I don’t get as aggravated.


10. Last, but not least. While perusing the IHE demo exhibit, the PACSman will find his true love – she will not be a PC or a MAC this time. But one thing is for sure - she will have a pulse.