Better Care by Design

I would like to recommend this article - Better Care by Design  from Imaging Informatics (by Dennis L. Kaiser, AIA, LEED® AP) where it talks about “patient and family-oriented design of imaging facilities responds to changing demographics and can help build business”.

Personally, I like the concept he mentioned in A Patient- and Family-Centered Department section where all imaging equipment (of all the specialities) within a hospital are located in one single department to enable better workflow (I made the same suggestion to a hospital I work for about 6 years ago but it didn’t take off).

I hope you enjoy the article

Imaging in Developing Countries Special Interest Group

Dear fellow friends,

I’d like to share with you folks about the Imaging in Developing Countries Special Interest Group (IDC-SIG), a network of radiographers and other professionals working in the field of medical imaging who are working to support the advancement of radiography in developing countries.

The group was formed in response to the concern of a number of radiographers involved in overseas projects that whilst their projects were achieving a lot in their own right there was no exchange of knowledge and ideas between them. Consequently everyone had to find out everything for themselves; ‘the wheel’ had to be repeatedly re-invented and there was no opportunity for learning from similar projects.

The group was launched at a study day in 2004 which attracted around 30 participants. Since then the group has grown to over 70 members from a range of professional backgrounds including radiographers, radiologists, imaging managers, clinical tutors and lecturers, physicists, students, members of professional bodies and equipment manufacturers.

The IDC-SIG exists primarily to facilitate communication and sharing of ideas between its members. Responsibility for the organisation and financing of projects rests with the individual members themselves. The group does not intend to make rules or policy on how projects should be run, but aims to offer advice based on members experiences.

I personally feel that IDC-SIG serves a very meaningful cause, most of us are passionate about healthcare informatics because we truly believe and wants to make a difference, hence I reckon that there would be some of you folks might want to contribute (somehow).

The official website of IDC-SIG is http://www.idcsig.org/

Radiologists work more to find time for more play

I got this off from Diagnosticimaging.com

 

Radiologists are working approximately five more hours every week, but they also take 12 more vacation days a year, according to a survey from the American College of Radiology. The results apply not only to private practice radiologists, but to those in academic departments and multispecialty groups as well.

Results from surveys in 1995, 2003, and 2007 show an increase in hours worked per week of approximately 10%, or five hours. Mean vacation days increased from 27 in 1997 to 39 in 2007, which means a 5% decrease in the number of days worked (AJR 2009;193[4]:1136-1140).

“The trend in work hours can show how radiologists are coping in the face of increased imaging,” said Dr. Jonathan Sunshine, senior director of research at ACR and lead author of the study.

A large increase in the work hours of the average radiologist may portend both burnout and expansion of the role of nonradiologists in imaging, driven by the inability of radiologists to keep up with the increase in workload, he said.

Radiologists worked, on average, 53 hours a week in 2003. Broken down into subsets, the researchers found since 1995 an increase in hours worked per week of seven for academic radiologists, four for private practice radiologists, and one for those in multispecialty practices.

In 2007, 25% of radiologists worked 45 or fewer hours a week. The researchers also found 25% of radiologists worked 55 hours or more per week.

“Our practice has definitely increased our workload since 1995, and clearly more than 10%,” said Dr. Robert Pyatt, a radiologist at Chambersburg Imaging Associates in Chambersburg, PA.

Currently, radiologists at the practice read about 20,000 cases per year. They read about 15,000 per year in 1995.

“The actual opposing trends in weekly hours and days worked per year may reflect the more intense demand for after-hours coverage faced by radiologists over the study period,” Sunshine said.

Academic radiologists worked more hours than nonacademics: 25% work-ed 48 hours or fewer a week and 25% worked 58 hours or more per week.

“I probably work the same number of hours in the department as I have in the past, but spend at least as much time working outside the hospital on academic activities,” said Dr. Stuart Mirvis, a professor diagnostic radiology at the University of Maryland in Baltimore.

ABII exam results in 65 new CIIPs

Sixty-five candidates are now certified imaging informatics professionals (CIIP) after passing the American Board of Imaging Informatics (ABII) exam in September.

The pass rate for first-time candidates was 89.2 percent compared with 87.2 percent for the five previous exams, which ABII began administering in 2007.

Of the candidates who took the exam, three tested in Canada, one (a resident of Saudi Arabia) in Hong Kong, one in Mumbai, India, and the rest in the United States (including two in Puerto Rico).

According to the ABII, there are now 477 CIIPs. The exam tests candidates in several areas, including imaging management, health IT, operations, communications, systems management, clinical engineering, medical informatics, procurement, project management and training and education.

Ramblings: My SIM card went dead (and why it relates to health informatics)

I’d like to share something interesting that happened to me last week – my SIM card went dead all of a sudden (while I was using the phone).

Now my first reaction when that happened was – the phone is faulty and for the record, it’s a brand new phone (My Dopod was functioning fine but the battery is so old that it can no longer last for more than 1/2 a day so I got myself a new phone) and I did what any self-respecting techie will do – try to troubleshoot.

I tested my faulty SIM card with my 2 other mobile phones – didn’t work, I tested my wife’s SIM card with my phone – worked fine. So it was obvious, my SIM card malfunction in the midst of its usage and I had no choice but the wait till the next day to visit the service center to get it replaced.

My visit to the service (for this purpose) was;

1. Time consuming as I had to forgo my lunch, drive to the nearest service centre, queue and wait for quite a fair bit
2. Non-informative as the customer service representative didn’t provide a reason for why the SIM card fail (but he was not even remotely surprised so I suspect this happens quite often)

Now, what does this have to do with health informatics?

Well to reconstruct this scenario in the world of let say, medical imaging informatics;

1. A technical error occurred, the first thing that the end-user will think that the fault lies with the PACS solution, however, it could easily be due to the network, hospital’s HIS, modality, other hardware component failures, anti-virus, firewall  etc. The PACS itself could be functioning properly but it will get the ‘blame’ as it is the main component that the end-user is facing when an error occurs
2. Now it would be unreasonable to expect clinical end-user to perform troubleshooting when an error occurs but simple troubleshooting (e.g. Ping) by supporting staff (maybe the rad-tech) can help quickly narrow the error source
3. Most solution providers / PACS Administrators do not provide the necessary education / information update to the end-user. It is beneficial to have the end-users be informed on what exactly happened, how it was fixed and what could be done to prevent it (e.g. end-user related error) but of course, use non-technical language
4. There is also expectation management, stuff like SIM cards have a lifespan, so does other hardware components like batteries. In the example of medical imaging informatics again, stuff like monitors, keyboard, pointing devices etc have life span too. Things breakdown, set proper expectations to your end-users.
5. Backup Backup Backup. There are some components in your PACS solution that does not have a high availability option. Are you prepared to handle the situation when it fails? Have you done your backup?
   (I can buy spare batteries for my phone, keep a spare phone around, backup my SIM card but if my SIM card fails, I’m kind of stuck with ‘a problem’)

Now its much easier to fix a problem with my mobile phone as the technology is much more consumer friendly but when mobile phones were first release, I’m sure most users had problem and blamed the phone (and the service provider) whenever something went wrong. I’m sure health informatics will evolved to where mobile phones are now – consumer friendly enough for the average joe to perform troubleshooting, till then, let’s do our best to educate and set the right expectation

RT: Radiologic science educators report less burnout than RTs

This article from HealthImaging.com discuss about job burnouts for Radiologic Technologists (or Radiographers) and Educators for Radiologic Technologists. I find it very interesting so do enjoy the article (and think about the PACS Administrators – either clinical or technical, and their supporting staff working in the background ensuring that these images are delivered on time, accurately to not only the radiologists for diagnosis but also to the clinicians throughout the hospitals)

“Although radiologic science educators experience less job burnout than practicing radiologic technologists (RTs), there is a significant correlation between health status and burnout levels among the educators, according to survey results released in the July/August issue of Radiologic Technology.

The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was emailed to 241 members of the Association of Educators in Imaging and Radiologic Sciences. The MBI is designed to measure the three subdimensions of burnout in various occupations. Also, health status and demographic questions were added at the end of the MBI survey. The survey yielded a 62 percent response rate.

Jeffrey B. Killion, PhD, an associate professor at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, and colleagues measured burnout, or a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job, by three subscales: levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment.

The authors reported that the “survey’s results were mixed.”

The MBI survey indicated that radiologic science educators experience average levels of emotional exhaustion, low levels of feelings of depersonalization and average levels of feelings about personal accomplishment, when compared with a national norm group and practicing RTs. However, they noted that based on the self-reported health status of the study participants, there seemed to be a strong correlation between those who reported adverse health effects and those experiencing higher burnout levels.

For purposes of the study, the authors defined the ‘adverse health effect’ as the “characteristic that indicates declining health, such as heart disease, hypertension and gastrointestinal problems.” According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, early warning signs of the health symptoms that indicate job stress include headaches, sleep disturbances, difficulty concentrating, short temper, upset stomach, job dissatisfaction and low morale.

Additionally, radiologic science educators reported that headaches, heartburn and increased blood pressure were the top three conditions that forced them to take medication, the authors said. Moreover, burnout may also affect the quality of education provided by the radiologic science educators.

The authors acknowledged that previous research has shown that educators who have greater job control experience less burnout. They also said that radiologic science education programs are generally small and the faculty members have a great deal of autonomy in their daily work.

“Still, it is important for educators to be aware of their stress levels, which can adversely affect their health,” Killion said.

The authors recommended further research to follow up on why radiologic science educators experience less burnout than practicing RTs. The study also outlined the need for further research on educators experiencing both high- and low-burnout levels to determine if the students’ quality of education is affected, and to help address the health of radiologic science educators and similar groups”

Intel adds to patient monitoring system

I blog about “Intel enters healthcare arena with patient-monitoring device” back on the 14th Sep 2008 and am happy to provide an update (taken from HealthImaging.com).

“Intel has enhanced the Intel Health Guide by adding additional connectivity options to the patient monitoring system.

The system is now available with multiple connectivity options including cable/DSL broadband, cellular wireless and residential phone service.

In-home care and health services organizations such as Providence Life Services in Tinley Park, Ill., Spectrum Medical in Portland, Maine, and ProActive Healthcare in San Jose, Calif., are incorporating the Intel Health Guide into their offerings, according to the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company.

The Intel Health Guide allows healthcare providers to customize care, gather information about the status of their patients and collect and prioritize patient data. The company said that the system engages patients in their own care by providing them with a way to have interaction with their care providers and receive relevant self-care education.”

Makes sense doesn’t it?

Prospective ECG Triggering During Chest CT Cuts Radiation Dose

ECGs and Medical Imaging (especially Ultrasound and General X-ray) are two of the most commonly utilised procedures for health assessment purposes so it comes as no wonder that the two different ‘disciplines’ can come together to cut radiation does during a chest CT procedure.

According to this article from Imaging Economics.com, when non-specific chest pain is being urgently evaluated with whole-chest multi-detector CT, using prospective electrocardiographic (ECG) triggering instead of retrospective ECG gating can reduce the radiation dose by more than 70%.

Interested in findout out more, surf on to Imaging Economics.com for the full article.

Regards

Viewpoint: The Joining of Two Worlds

I chanced upon this really good article titled “Education closes the gap between radiology’s clinical and clerical staffs” By Arturo Hiyagon.

Its a long article so I will not repost it here, you can read it from RT-Image here.

Citing just the abstract – “Learn from someone who has worked on both the clerical and clinical sides of radiology how better patient care and efficient workflow can be attained through increasing the administrative staff’s knowledge and awareness of radiology techniques, procedures, and terms.”

Sounds familiar? It works for PACS Administrators who are not of a radiology background

Siemens Celebrates First Definition AS 20 CT Shipment

According to this article at www.imagingeconomics.com,

“Siemens Healthcare, of Malvern, Pa., has announced the first installation of its SOMATOM® Definition AS (Adaptive Scanner) 20-slice configuration CT system at Center for Diagnostic Imaging of Minneapolis.

According to the company, the SOMATOM Definition AS is the world’s first adaptive CT scanner, adapting to virtually any patient for complete dose protection.

“The installation of the SOMATOM Definition AS 20-slice CT is consistent with our ongoing commitment to provide high-quality images and care to our patients and physicians,” said Patricia Zadra, CDI Regional VP. “In addition to the lower radiation dose patients will receive, the system’s scalability is important to our business operations. We will now be able to easily upgrade our CT capabilities as demand for advanced imaging services in our community grows.”

The SOMATOM Definition AS platform features a new 20-slice configuration, a 31-inch (78 cm) gantry bore, and optional 660 pounds (300 kg) patient weight capacity. Also available in 40-slice, 64-slice, and 128-slice – AS+ configurations, the scanner offers an Adaptive 4D spiral mode, enabling functional imaging with perfusion capabilities of the brain and other organs and an extended coverage of up to 7 cm.”

Adaptive Scanner…. sounds cool to me.