Editorial
Scheduling & Appointment Management in the Medical Imaging Department
Dear readers, More and more medical imaging department managers are scrutinising the process by which appointments with patients are being made, for the simple reason that it represents one clear method of increasing productivity and optimising patient flow in the department. So, what are the first steps to generating an overview of the potential for improvement? Firstly, each department must monitor ong...
European News
EC-Funded E-Health Study Looks at Progress and Barriers
A new study funded by the European Commission is assessing the progress made to date, towards the realisation of European e-Health Action Plan goals. Good practices and lessons learned constitute the study’s key elements. The results will be fed into policy recommendations for further accelerating e-Health implementation. The study has been assigned to a consortium consisting of empirica Communication...
Results Published on EU RFID Project
The first results of the EU’s RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and Health project have been published. The report presents the findings of the first phase of a study to identify the policy options that can help the development and application of RFID in healthcare. The objectives of the study were: •To identify and discuss the most relevant areas for deployment and use of RFID in healthcare; •T...
The Prague Declaration: Spotlight on E-Health
The e-Health Conference 2009 in Prague (e-Health for Individuals, Society and Economy) has been followed by the release of the Prague Declaration. This emphasises the progress already made in e-Health by both Member States and the European Union. It also notes that the benefits of e-Health for a safe and efficient health sector have long been recognised by expert stakeholders. The Prague Declaration stat...
Corporate Update
Carestream Laser Imager Approved by FDA
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has given marketing clearance to a tabletop laser imager from Carestream Health for digital mammography and general radiography applications. The company will begin taking orders immediately for its CARESTREAM DRYVIEW 5850 Laser Imager and has already begun shipments in the US and other countries. The new laser imager - featuring 508 pixels-per-inch output - ad...
Louisiana State University Install GE RIS/PACS
Louisiana State University (LSU) Health System, which includes 10 public hospitals and more than 500 clinics in the area, will deploy GE Healthcare's RIS, PACS and diagnostic reporting system, as part of a 12.5 million dollar contract to create a filmless and paperless central database and radiology image repository for sharing patient imaging. Implementation of GE's Centricity RIS/PACS system is expected...
Hypothermia Company Acquired by Philips
Philips has agreed to acquire the assets of InnerCool Therapies Inc., a therapeutic hypothermia company, and wholly-owned subsidiary of 1 1 Cardium Therapeutics, Inc. It will be acquired in an asset purchase transaction for 11.25 million dollars, and the transfer of around 1.5 million dollars in trade payables. The transaction will reinforce Philips’ leadership position in the emergency care market by add...
Sectra Appoints Senior Business Manager
Sectra has announced Chris Varian as Senior Business Manager in international business development. Chris Varian joins Sectra from Carestream Health where he was director, worldwide business development for mammography solutions following more than 15 years of international business development experience in PACS and digital imaging in a variety of roles with 3M, Imation and Kodak....
Hologic Announces Financial Results
Hologic has booked a third quarter 2009 net income of 41 million dollars, compared with 61 million dollars in the year-ago quarter. Included in third quarter fiscal 2009 results were charges of 48 million dollars attributable to the amortisation of intangibles relating to the Cytyc merger and the Third Wave acquisition and, in addition, a full quarter of costs and expenses from Third Wave. Hologic said t...
Hitachi Introduce New Medical Display
Hitachi’s new display implements in-plane-switching technology, called IPS-Pro, which is said to provide a stable colour image from any viewing angle, good colour saturation and a very high contrast ratio, according to the company. When viewed from an acute angle, a conventional TFT display will exhibit a loss of brightness and display image colors become inverted. In certain applications this performa...
Research News
EIBIR Announces New EuroAIM Leader
EIBIR has named Dr. Francesco Sardanelli from Milan, Italy, as the new lead of the EuroAIM initiative, a network to assess radiological technology. EuroAIM was set up to assist in the formation of consortia to perform meta-analyses, i.e. pooled analyses of existing prospectively collected datasets using individual patient level data from completed studies. Data that have been collected in studies in the pa...
EU Adopts Legal Framework for European Research Infrastructures
An agreement has been reached on a legal framework for the establishment of European research infrastructures. Currently, national and EU laws do not meet the needs of complex research infrastructures with par tners in many countries. Under the new legal framework, Member States wishing to host a European research infrastructure will have to declare in their application to the Commission that they recognis...
Association News
Junior Workshop a Success: 2010 Edition Confirmed
In other MIR news, the association held its first junior workshop in late July 2009. The course is aimed at new consultants, or those about to seek or take up a consultant post. A "consultant" is a British term equivalent to the Nor th American staff grade post, which means a definitive, substantive medical appointment: the highest grade of doctor within the National Health Service hospital-based practice...
CARS Congress 2010 Announced (June 23 - 26, Geneva, Switzerland)
The next edition of the Computer Assisted Radiology & Surgey (CARS) congress will be held from June 23 – 26, 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland, in conjunction with the annual meetings of ISCAS, EuroPACS, CAR, CAD and CMI societies. The CARS congress organising committee invites you to be part of this scientific and medical community, which gives medicine a new perspective. The congress is of interest to...
UEMS Vote Officially Recognises Interventional Radiology
A recent vote taken by the UEMS Radiology Section has officially recognised interventional radiology as a distinct medical specialty. Until recently, interventional radiology was a self-declared medical subspecialty of radiology. Although recognised in some countries and embedded in the European Society of Radiology (ESR), it was not seen as a clearly defined profession by numerous authorities. In this c...
Patient Safety Organisation Listed by US Government
The ECRI Institute Patient Safety Organisation has been officially listed by the US Department of Health and Human Services as a federal Patient Safety Organisation under the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005. ECRI Institute Patient Safety Organisation will serve nationwide as a PSO directly for providers, hospitals, and health systems as well as provide support services to state and regio...
Newly-Elected Co-Chair Joins IHE-Europe
Jacqueline Surugue, a hospital pharmacist who played a key role in the creation of the pharmacy domain for Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE), was elected the Co-Chair for Users of IHE Europe Steering Committee in June this year. Since 2007, Surugue has served on the Steering Committee of IHE, representing the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP). As Co-Chair for Users, Surugue join...
Cover Story
Restructuring Radiology Scheduling in a Hospital Environment
Hospital physicians are under growing pressure to reduce the average duration of hospital stay of patients. They require a fast, top-quality response and expect radiology to continually improve its performance in this area. In this article, we describe how radiology can improve the organisation of its appointment and scheduling management to optimise its resources.Calculating the Volume of Emergencies The...
Operating a Call Centre For Scheduling & Appointments
The call centre for scheduling and appointments in an imaging department is a strategic operational element of the unit. Imaging patients generally make their appointments either by phone or on the spot. Emails are an occasional alternative, but a phonecall remains essential for confirmation purposes. The speed and quality of the phone response are essential elements in the patient’s perception as well...
Workflow Scheduling with Multiple Equipments Requirements
The Case for MRI & CT Scanning Scheduling appointments plays a crucial role in the smooth administration of the radiology department, particularly when multiple pieces of equipment have to be managed simultaneously. Access to modalities is assigned according to different sectors’ requirements and volume of activity. All radiological appointments are made directly via the radiology department by phone...
Managing Medical Imaging Appointments
Authors Dr. Sylvia Neuenschwander G. Scamps A. Livartowski Ph. Rizand Medical Imaging Department Curie Institute Paris, France sylvia.neuenschwander@ curie.net Case Study - The Curie Institute The Curie Institute enjoys a relatively privileged situation, as a medium-sized establishment, with an efficient computer system, a large majority of planned patients and a low amount of emergencies. Not - with...
Healthcare Economics
Applying a “Business Process Reengineering” Model to Radiology
Part I: Six Steps for Streamlining Exam Processes Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a philosophy that advocates restructuring an organisation, based around processes rather than the individual tasks that take place in the organisation. The idea is that by approaching workflow without deference to traditional business models, one can analyse and redesign the organisation into a system of more effici...
RSNA 2010 Round-up: Imaging Management Top Session Picks
Adds Tomosynthesis to Its Suite of State-of-the-Art Digital Mammography Technologies
One of the largest teaching hospitals in France, the University Hospital of Montpellier prides itself on utilising stateof- the-art technology to provide the highest levels of patient care, teaching, and research. Its radiology department is the major imaging resource for women’s health in the area, supporting the University Hospital as well as a second local hospital and two groups of affiliated surgeon...
Hitach`s APERTO Open MRI Unparalleled for Patient Care & Cost-Effectiveness
There are three main reasons why Mark Sherratt, Radiology Services Manager at the Bronglais Hospital, part of the Ceredigion and Mid-Wales NHS Trust in Wales, UK, is extremely pleased with the facility’s latest equipment purchase, a Hitachi Medical Systems Europe APERTO Open MRI scanner: increased patient care and satisfaction, sharp image quality and low running costs. Here, the busy manager explains ho...
Feature
PACS in the Cardiology Department
Report on Market Developments Managing cross-departmental communications in a healthcare setting has been greatly improved by the emergence of picture archiving and communications systems (PACS) as a vital supporting infrastructure, with specialists in healthcare departments like orthopaedics, neurology, oncology, histology and cardiology improving their communication and therefore patient wellbeing. The...
Driving Quality Standards in Paediatric Echocardiography
How to Cultivate Leadership and Teamwork Echocardiographic imaging has evolved into the key diagnostic modality in paediatric cardiac care. Its role has expanded beyond that of initial diagnosis; intracardiac echo is now used during interventional cases in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory, transthoracic echo is the pre- and post-operative modality, and transesophageal echo is utilised in the operatin...
Radiation Exposure in Computed Radiography
How Can Patients be Protected? exposure and therefore is of international concern. Even the lowest amount of exposure to ionising radiation has some risk. According to Prasad et al. (2004), accurately determining radiation-induced cancer risk in humans is difficult due to biological variability, environment, and lifestyle related factors. Consensus has not been reached over the risk of low-level radiation...
Imaging Leaders
Interview With Dr. Jorg F. Debatin
Prof. Dr. Jörg F. Debatin, 47, is medical director and CEO of the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf since 2003. Here, the author of 30 reviews, 6 books, 1,000 scientific presentations, and more than 300 invited lectures, and former radiology department leader tells us about life as hospital CEO. We also learn about the five-year restructuring project he engineered at Hamburg. What are the Highl...
Contry Focus: Poland
Overview of Healthcare in Poland
Portrait of a System Under Pressure The Republic of Poland is the largest country in central and eastern Europe, in terms of both population (38.2 million) and area (312,685 km2). In 1989, Poland was the first country among the central and eastern European countries to re-establish democracy after 44 years of communist rule. After a severe economic downturn in the early 1990s, Poland’s macroeconomic situ...
The Contribution of Poland to Radiology
A Snapshot of its Pioneers and Inventors The first news about Konrad Wilhelm Roentgen's great discovery in Poland was published by Kraków-based daily "Time" as early as January 8, 1896. Soon the first experiments with x-rays were begun. In Kraków between January 8 and 15, 1896 the Jagiellonian University professor of chemistry Karol Olszewski, (the man who was the first, along with Prof. Wróblewski, to...
Educating Radiologist in Poland
How We Do it To qualify as a radiology student in Poland, each candidate submits an application for specialisation in radiology and imaging diagnostics to the Regional Centre for Public Health in the region in which he/she intends to go into specialisation training. Submission of applications takes place twice a year. The procedure comprises formal evaluation of the application and competition procedure th...