You Don’t Have to Outrun The Bear

Posted on December 29, 2015 | Leave a comment

I had a wonderful discussion with an old friend from college who was trying to learn more about radiology. A computer scientist classically trained in a top US university for software engineering, she has years of experience in data science. She is now trying to apply her extensive expertise in analytics to healthcare. In our discussion, she began to express her concerns – having taken only 1 introductory biology course in college, she was worried that her limited knowledge in healthcare and medicine will prove to be the lynchpin of this transition.

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Complexity of Communication in Diagnostic Radiology

Posted on December 20, 2015 | 2 comments

In diagnostic radiology, information is the currency. Although the clinical knowledge in diagnostic radiology is the most salient component, information in radiology comes in many forms. What is the most appropriate next step in diagnosis? What is the most appropriate way to explain the clinical impact of this incidentally noted, indeterminate adrenal nodule? How to describe this finding in the most understandable way now that our patients are reading our reports?

Image Credit: Larson et al, AJR, Figure 2

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Don’t Go to The RSNA for The Great Research

Posted on November 28, 2015 | Leave a comment

The Radiology Society of North America (RSNA) annual conference is one of the most popular and most well-attended conferences in radiology.  The deal is the same – you submit some academic work you completed, and if it is deemed worthy, you are offered a not-quite-golden ticket to attend the not-quite-chocolate-making conference center.

You spend upwards to one week in a place with 20,000 strangers pushing around, 4,000 some CME-worthy offerings, and another 700 vendors trying to decide whether you have money to buy a CT table.  Sometimes people say that you go to the RSNA conference to learn about the newest research, to get ideas from being bathed in the sheer high density of smartness that we assumed would somehow disperse by diffusion.  The research is great, the vendors are great, the city is amazing, but these aren’t the reasons to go to the RSNA conference. If the research is important enough you will see it in a journal, if you need a product you will find that vendor on the internet, and Chicago… is indeed amazing, but it would be more so in September than December.

The reason that tens of thousands of people come together on this one week is not for the great research.  It’s for each other.  Go for the great people.  The world-class research is just a bonus.

Registration Now Open

Radiology’s largest annual conference is held in Chicago this year from Nov 29 – Dec 4

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Posted in Residency Productivity 'Hacks'

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Towards Healthcare Interoperability: What Must Be Done?

Posted on November 15, 2015 | 2 comments

Interoperability is becoming the most sought-after in healthcare, but needs further standardization.  Image Credit: http://cloudpro.co.uk

A few days ago, Walgreens announced a new deal with Epic Systems, joining numerous health systems (and one of its major competitors, CVS) by implementing Epic’s famous electronic health records (EHRs). In its press release, Walgreens cited interoperability as one of the primary reason for this transition:

QuoteThis state-of-the-industry EHR will enable more seamless communication with health systems and local providers, and gives us enhanced capabilities to deliver better health outcomes through greater care coordination and interoperability.”

Interoperability has become the holy grail of technology adaptation in many industries.  Continue reading →

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Posted in Technology and Informatics

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If You Must Multitask, Do It Well

Posted on November 3, 2015 | Leave a comment

busyphone

In the radiology reading room it is easy to get distracted.  Phone calls, clinician visits, and of course, the actual study that sits on the screen.

For a second year resident taking night call at Hospital of University of Pennsylvania, independent interpretation is just half of the challenge (and one I describe as The Gorilla Detection Exercise).  The other half comes from managing phone calls, protocols, and physician consultations.

Quote… humans do not have Intel Inside. We suffer dramatic performance cuts because of the task-switching overhead.

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Posted in Residency Productivity 'Hacks'

Be a Radiology Informatics Visionary

Posted on October 26, 2015 | Leave a comment

In The Four Steps to the Epiphany, Stephen Clark describes an “Earlyvangelist,” with the prefix “early” referring to a champion a the very early stage of a product adaptation cycle.

Since our emphasis is on problem and not the product, a different term might be more appropriate.  I will refer to this person as The Visionary.

The Visionary comes from the “problem end” of informatics. The Visionary is observant and asks good questions. She has a pain point. She knows when things just don’t look quite right. She may not know what the solution looks like. She may not even know that a solution exists. Marketers like Visionaries because these people see problem and can see the potential of the new purchase.

The Visionary is what all radiologists interested in informatics should be.  We see the clinical problem in a way that no software developer and no administrator can see.  Sitting down and accepting the status quo runs the risk of burying the problem forever.

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Posted in Radiology Innovation and Quality, Technology and Informatics

Relaxing the Quality MOC Requirements – Good News or Bad Omen?

Posted on October 17, 2015 | Leave a comment

In September, the American Board of Radiology (ABR) released a set of expanded options for satisfying Part 4 Requirements for its maintenance of certification (MOC).

The biggest change includes the ABR’s willingness to include additional areas (16 of them) of involvement in departmental quality and safety other than Practice Quality Improvement (PQI) as qualifying requirement. Continue reading →

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4 Ways Radiology Resident Experience Determines the Quality of a Residency

Posted on October 4, 2015 | Leave a comment

You are a fourth year medical student.  You’ve worked hard for three years, passed the USMLE with flying colors, conducted some spectacular extracurricular work.  And you’ve decided to pursue diagnostic radiology.  Continue reading →

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Healthcare Data Analytics – The Time to Act Is Now

Posted on September 20, 2015 | Leave a comment

This recent Deloitte healthcare analytic report came out with focus on big data.  The report aims to identify current state of data analytics as well as emerging trends in healthcare.

The 30-Second Recap?

Most organizations believe data analytics is important, but less than half have a clear strategy to approach it.  Few (5 of 50 surveyed organizations) anticipate an increase in budget.  Those who did invest describe the most important drivers as improve clinical outcomes, deliver value-based care, and reduce operating costs.

And then there’s my favorite figure, reproduced from the Deloitte report:  Continue reading →

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Posted in Technology and Informatics

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Can Gamification Improve Learning Effectiveness? (Spoilers: I Don’t Know)

Posted on September 1, 2015 | Leave a comment

This post is part of a series on preparing for the radiology core exam.

No, I don’t actually have the answer to the whether gamification can improve learning effectiveness.

But my radiology class might find out first hand through our QBank Challenge!

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