Deploying the mobile radiology service

Dr. Marc Kohli

Dr. Marc Kohli is Assistant Professor of Radiology and Imaging Sciences and Director of Informatics at Indiana University in Indianapolis. The radiology department has 106 faculty radiologists providing services at five sites along with evening teleradiology services. In addition, the program supports 15 residency slots per year with four residency classes and a number of fellows. Dr. Kohli specializes in abdominal imaging, informatics, research and education support. As part of his education function he manages the mobile-device program for the residents. He recently spoke at SIIM 2015 about implementing the mobile device program at IU. In November he will begin a new position as Director of Clinical Informatics in Radiology at the University of California San Francisco.

Q. How are you using mobile devices?

CMA and AMA announce help for ICD-10 deadline

PARCA eNews – July 26, 2015 – Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the American Medical Association (AMA) have announced in a press release increased flexibility regarding claims auditing and quality reporting. They have also released links to additional guidance in the announcement that details efforts to help physicians prepare for the Oct. 1, 2015 cut-off.

Here are some highlights from the press release:

Another Roadmap announced: destination patient safety via Health IT

PARCA eNews – July 22, 2015 – The Office of Clinical Quality and Safety today released its Health IT Safety Center Roadmap as another step in the national effort to help reduce possible health IT-related adverse events, or errors. The Roadmap was developed by RTI International, (Research Triangle Institute) a health and technology research institute, and was announced by Andrew Gettinger, M.D. / Chief Medical Information Officer, Acting Director, Office of Clinical Quality and Safety.

UK Radiology conference debates outsourcing

SCoR Chair Pam Black sums up the panel discussion on

radiology outsourcing. (click to view YouTube video)

PARCA eNews – July 1, 2015 – A panel debate at the UK Radiology Conference 2015, over outsourcing radiology reporting highlighted the pressures of economics and workload facing radiologists in the UK. The annual conference of radiologists was held June 29 to July 1 in Liverpool.

The discussion titled: “UKRC: Is outsourcing a silent killer or a savior?” touched off a heated discussion as reported by the Society of Radiographers and Aunt Minnie. 

Aussie study finds iPads ok for on-call radiologists

PARCA eNews – June 17, 2015 – An iPad may be appropriate for interpreting MRI, CT, and radiography studies by on-call radiologists, according to a recent meta-analysis by Australian researchers. 

The research team analyzed data from 11 studies, 10 of which evaluated radiology interpretations on Apple’s iPad and published the analysis in the June issue of the British Journal of Radiology.

They found no statistically significant differences in performance for reading CT, MRI, and radiography studies. The researchers found sensitivity rates ranging from 84 percent to 98 percent, specificity rates of 74 percent to 100 percent, and accuracy rates of 98 percent to 100 percent for diagnosis.

"Our findings suggest that the diagnostic accuracy of radiological interpretation is not compromised by using a tablet computer,” the researchers wrote. “This result is only relevant to the Apple iPad and to the modalities of CT, MRI and plain radiography.” 

Read more …

Herding cats: Implementing a VNA for a regional radiology group

As many PACS administrators tackle implementation of a VNA, PARCA eNews asked Nikki Fennell, Imaging Informatics Manager for Southwest Diagnostic Imaging, in Arizona, to share her experience in implementing a VNA. Southwest Diagnostic Imaging, is a partnership made up of Scottsdale Medical Imaging (SMIL), Valley Radiologists (VRL), and EVDI Medical Imaging. Together SDI is one of the top 25 radiology groups in the US with over 100 board certified radiologists reading 2 million inpatient and outpatient exams each year. Their radiologists provide specialty imaging in neuroradiology, nuclear radiology, pediatric radiology, vascular and interventional radiology at 32 locations throughout the Phoenix, Scottsdale metropolitan areas, as well as providing diagnostic

New Joint Commission imaging requirements in effect

Courtesy: Joint Commission

PARCA eNews – June 30, 2015 – The Joint Commission’s new diagnostic imaging requirements went into effect July 1, 2015, for hospital and ambulatory care programs. The new and revised standards incorporate recommendations from imaging experts, professional associations, and accredited organizations about areas that must be evaluated to ensure the safe delivery of diagnostic imaging services. 

The new requirements address:

• Imaging equipment testing and maintenance
• Annual education for staff supporting CT and MRI services

Delaware joins 23 other states requiring breast density reporting

Image courtesy: ACS

PARCA eNews – June 24, 2015 – Delaware’s breast density reporting bill was signed into law by Governor Jack Markell, joining 23 states that have already passed some sort of density reporting legislation. The law will go into effect in 180 days. 

Ready set Go! Regulatory, economic pressures pose challenges

Copyright: photografier 123RF 

PARCA eNews – June 16, 2015 – The deficit reduction act of 2005, regulatory changes, aging imaging devices and the transition to value-based reimbursement are likely to continue to increase costs and reduce reimbursement for medical imaging groups over the next several years.

The challenges are expected to overwhelm the ability of many freestanding medical imaging practices to survive on the Medicare Physician Fee Service (MPFS) over the next several years and will drive changes in hospital radiology departments.

HHS signals flexibilty for submitting Health IT certification test procedures

PARCA eNews – June 9, 2015 – The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a document today detailing the submittal of test procedures and data under the Health IT Certification Program established by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC).