From the January 2017 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
“It doesn’t matter who is in office,” Whitfill told the audience at the Monday morning session. “We are going to see a relentless push toward new models of paying for health care, and that’s going to include value-based care. I’m not sure what our new presidency is going to bring, but I can guarantee you we’re going to continue to see a big push in this area.”
A singular digital storage solution
If MIPS and MACRA reimbursement concerns represented a central problem, enterprise imaging may be its solution — a way to reduce costs and establish sought-after quality metrics to keep radiologists afloat and informed in changing times.
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"Enterprise imaging is a program for bringing together all medical images from across an enterprise," Dr. Cheryl Petersilge of Cleveland Clinic, said in a session. "We have to think beyond medical imaging as just being DICOM images that are generated within the radiology department."
Carestream unveiled its Unified Core architecture for its Clinical Collaboration Platform at the meeting. In describing the management and archiving solution, Ludovic d’Aprea, Carestream’s Global GM for Healthcare Information Solutions said, “Users can add modules on an a la carte basis to a scalable infrastructure instead of installing and supporting separate viewers or archives for activities involved in the management of images and related patient clinical data.”
The call to break down silos and move beyond PACS-as-we've-known-them has been ringing in our ears for years now, but — like the headway being made with big data — this year's RSNA seemed to mark a turning point in realizing that goal. A range of other enterprise imaging solutions were showcased by companies like Agfa Healthcare, INFINITT, Visage and ProMedica.
Finding our way with 3-D printing
A Sunday session at RSNA entitled "Principles and Practice of 3-D Printing" laid a groundwork for the type of innovations being developed with the aid of 3-D printing. Dr. Jonathan M. Morris of Mayo Clinic and Dr. Frank Rybicki of the University of Ottawa discussed their firsthand clinical experiences with the technology.
While spine applications like scoliosis first emerged as promising for 3-D printing, eventually every surgical specialty at Mayo Clinic asked for a 3-D printed model of patients' anatomy to help them plan for procedures.
According to Morris, 3-D anatomic models are generating significant cost savings in the operating room where an external pelvectomy procedure can cost $275,000, but a $700 3-D model can drastically reduce operating time and improve outcomes.
