From the January 2017 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Research presented at RSNA also showed how
3-D-printed fetus reconstructions based on images derived from ultrasound and MR can help physicians verify the health of an unborn child, assess its airways or help parents understand treatment decisions.
The practice may still be in its infancy, but — this year more than ever — RSNA showed that 3-D printed anatomical patient replicas are poised to fit into personalized medicine and improve how physicians assess the body.
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MR and the limits of technology
Whether it was GE unveiling
Freelium, a magnet technology designed to use one percent of liquid helium compared to conventional MR magnets, or
Compressed Imaging from Siemens, which allows MR scans to be performed in a fraction of the time — MR appeared to be the primary imaging modality enjoying the most innovation at RSNA.
And yet, for all the progress taking place, patient safety is still a big problem in the MR environment. There has been an
almost 500 percent increase in MR adverse events from 2000 to 2009 in the face of only a 114 percent increase in volume growth, according to a presentation by Armen Kocharian, Ph.D., senior imaging physicist, Houston Methodist Hospital, and he suspects those statistics are low.
The paradox of completely avoidable adverse incidents and jaw-dropping technical innovations illustrates a uniquely RSNA 2016 point: the greatest imaging equipment and the greatest software in the world are useless (at best) and dangerous (at worst) when they are not being used by capable and cautious radiologists. If that wasn't true enough already, it will be increasingly true under the new radiology reimbursement system.
Headlines will come and go baiting health care professionals to ask themselves whether or not
radiologists are going extinct, but this year at RSNA it was clear that cutting edge technology alone is not enough for value-based care. Which brings us to our next takeaway...
Radiologists are people too
Yet another theme tied in with MACRA and value-based care was the growing demand for radiologists to interface with patients. Whether it be a push to
enhance social media presence or being more cognizant of the mood their waiting room TV channel may be creating, radiologists are being pulled out of their quiet comfort zones.
