The overwhelming focus on this issue suggests that the industry is in earnest pursuit of answers. Many of the educational sessions offered a front row glimpse into such particulars as: new hospital and physician compensation models; population wellness management; security and privacy of health care data in response to social media and portable devices; and integrating process improvement to engage employees in efforts to meet new patient consumer demands.

It's no secret that we aren't there yet, but the progress being made is massive and by most accounts it overshadows the developments taking place with imaging itself. It isn't because people don't want revolutionary imaging capabilities, they do, but in order to stay in business they need to streamline their entire workflow and create harmony where once was chaos.


Some slightly less momentous observations

A Twitter hashtag picked up momentum this year, in which attendees post pictures of their feet with the tag #RSNAshoes. The HCB News team makes no claim to understanding this phenomenon. #RSNAmanpurse and #RSNAsocks were less successful derivatives.

On the subject of fashion, Medical Ties, a company selling neckties (and bowties) with medical themes such as "Psychedelic Wrist MRI", was also somewhat remarkable at the show. The ties were $35 each or four for $100. On its website, the company describes itself as "a small Wisconsin company that, in between eating cheese sandwiches and watching the Packers, designs and makes medical ties."

Finally, is it possible that USB flash drives are passed their prime? In the past, exhibitors have provided the press with increasingly unique flash drives containing all of their RSNA media announcements. This year the creativity seemed to have gone down, as did the total number of drives being provided. Perhaps this is evidence of an industry truly embracing the cloud.

Did we miss anything? If you attended RSNA we would love for you to share your reflections with us.

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