By Dave Yeager
Radiology Today
Vol. 17 No. 11 P. 4
Starting treatment sooner, shortening hospital stays, and reducing repeat hospitalizations can go a long way toward putting the value in value-based care. If health care providers are going to be paid for outcomes rather than procedures, achieving the best outcomes with the most efficient use of resources will be the name of the game. Add in the mobile inclinations of our society, and you can start to see the outlines of a trend for faster, more immediate care and near real-time information exchange. To highlight the ways that medical imaging is being used and interpreted outside hospital and imaging center environs, and because November brings RSNA and our annual RSNA Navigation Guide and Road Map, this month’s issue is dedicated to mobile imaging.
Kathy Hardy’s cover feature kicks off our coverage with a story about a mobile stroke unit in Memphis—the first with a 16-slice CT scanner on board; previous mobile stroke units have used 8-slice scanners. The idea of starting stroke treatment before a patient arrives at the hospital seems to be taking off: As the magazine was going to press, NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital announced that they are launching a mobile stroke unit of their own, the first on the East Coast.
Also in this issue, Keith Loria reports on handheld ultrasound scanners that use mobile phones for their displays, and Beth W. Orenstein looks at the trend toward in-home X-ray imaging for elderly and disabled people. We also examine the increasing use of personal mobile devices to capture and share images and what that means for image management. And don’t miss Jeannette Sabatini’s article on mobile veterinary imaging services. Additional departmental articles cover topics as diverse as teleradiology, nuclear medicine, and crowdsourcing, all mobile in one form or another, of course.
Speaking of RSNA, it’s been a few years since I’ve been there, and I’m looking forward seeing the latest and greatest technologies, as well as meeting some of you. Stop by and visit us at booth 3213 in the South Hall.
Enjoy the issue and the show.