Yet, a vast gulf exists between clinician enthusiasm for these investments and leadership’s enthusiasm.

Of course, there’s a reason for this: organizations may be slower to adopt solutions like cloud or AI into their tech stacks because they aren’t sold on the ROI. Questions about downtime risk, security stability, and other challenges appear with any new technology. Until enough organizations have invested in these solutions and demonstrated stability over a long period, it will be a hard sell for IT and leadership; nobody wants to be the first one in the pool. However, this disconnect is paralyzing decision-making, and the more time passes without these investments, the more radiologists are prone to burn out and leave altogether.


The way to bridge this gap and finally get our industry’s burnout problem under control is to seek out choices.

Looking for the ‘moderate middle’ in solutions providers
Imaging organizations may feel torn between bleeding-edge but unproven solutions and old-school methods that fail to meet physicians’ current needs. Perhaps the best solution to this conundrum is in the middle—a moderate middle, with innovative solutions like cloud and AI and legacy PACS that may not sound as sexy but are solid and reliable.

In other words, to best serve the radiology staff and their patients, build solutions that fit with and maintain parts of the imaging environment to keep.

Do you want to be on-premises, go cloud-based on everything, or mix it up with a hybrid cloud? Do you want targeted AI applications, and which area of the body are they targeted for? And most importantly, have these options all been vetted with the proper industry certifications and partners who can vouch for their credentials? All of these are considerations to keep in mind when trying to find that “moderate middle” provider.

The legacy component is critical. Does the provider have an authentic history and track record to support its claims? A great mix of old and new solutions is excellent, but all the bells and whistles don’t matter if the provider has a spotty history of breaches and downtime.

New solutions are crucial to recruitment and retention
Imaging organizations must ramp up their investments in new workflow solutions to attract and retain new talent. Older radiologists are retiring, and younger generations are hesitant to sign on without certain tools in place. One of the first questions I always hear from new radiologist prospects is, “What tools do you have that can make my life better?” These clinicians expect and want technology to change; it’s already a part of their lives outside of work, so why shouldn’t it be the case on the job, too?

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