It’s no secret that radiology faces a variety of challenges, from rising imaging volumes to workforce shortages. But can imaging IT vendors help? A new paper in Academic Radiology suggests they can, and provides a list of the half-dozen imaging IT tools that radiologists say they need most.
Radiology is already one of the most software-oriented specialties in medicine.
- It was an early adopter of digital healthcare through tools like PACS, and is reprising its leadership in the coming AI era with the lion’s share of FDA-approved medical AI applications.
But that doesn’t mean radiologists have all the IT tools at their disposal that they feel they need.
- The new paper is a sort of radiologist wish list, developed after a 2024 meeting between vendors and members of the Association of Academic Radiologists.
Some three dozen key opinion leaders met for breakout discussions on radiology’s unmet IT needs. The discussion was then boiled down into six major areas …
- Increased workstation efficiency, with better tools for looking through medical records to find clinical information.
- Better AI tools for radiology reporting, such as auto-generated measurements and findings from prior studies for comparison.
- Better methods for controlling imaging overutilization, such as clinical decision support systems to be used by referring physicians to order exams.
- Help from vendors to improve access to high-level radiology services in underserved areas like rural communities, such as through industry-sponsored training positions or improved telemedicine access to patients with follow-up appointments.
- Patient engagement tools that promote direct communication between radiologists and patients, including industry-sponsored training modules for radiologists to discuss findings with patients.
- Simpler scheduling systems that allow patients to pick appointment times from their smartphones.
One possible question to ask about the recommendations is whether the needs of academic radiologists truly reflect those of radiologists in general, especially those in private practice.
- But the items on the wish list appear broad enough that they hit the requirements of a wide range of imaging practitioners.
The Takeaway
Sure, radiologists face many challenges in today’s healthcare environment. But the fact that radiology is such an IT-centered specialty offers hope that new software tools can help them – and that radiology vendors can lend a hand.
