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Rads IT Wish List, CT Dose, and Auto Reporting Buzz
April 7, 2025
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Together with
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“There are numerous opportunities to engage with industry to enhance electronic resources that aid radiologists, ordering providers, and patients.”
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Gaetke-Udager K et al, in a paper on imaging IT tools radiologists want.
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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.
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Advancing AI-Driven Data Migration
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Ahead in the Cloud
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- Variation in CT Radiation Dose: CT sites must comply with new CMS radiation dose quality reporting measures. But how many practices measure up? A new study in Academic Radiology analyzed doses from seven CT scanner models used in 34.2k exams across eight exam types. They found a 1.6-4.5X variation for the three main dose indices (CTDIvol, SSDE, and DLP) for same-sized patients, and 14 combinations of exam types and scanner models exceeded ACR guidelines. Authors predicted many CT scanners will fail the CMS criteria.
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- First X-Ray in Space: Astronauts on the Fram2 space mission shared the first medical X-ray image acquired in space, using equipment from KA Imaging and MinXray. Featuring a hand with a ring, it mirrors the first-ever X-ray image captured over a century ago by Wilhelm Roentgen. The image was acquired as part of the SpaceXray project, which is investigating the feasibility of acquiring high-quality diagnostic radiographs in microgravity, which would be necessary during deep-space missions.
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- Does POCUS Promote Downstream Imaging? One of the concerns about point-of-care ultrasound is it detects findings that lead to additional imaging tests. But a new U.K. study in Clinical Medicine refutes that belief, finding across a year of POCUS use no departmental imaging was ordered for 72% of 527 scans conducted. And when departmental imaging was requested, 22% was for outpatient imaging, with just 20% of cases leading to inpatient imaging. POCUS therefore can reduce inpatient echo and radiology ultrasound requests.
- Review of AI for POCUS: If you’re looking for a good overview of AI for point-of-care ultrasound, check out a new literature review in American Journal of Emergency Medicine. The review offers a comprehensive look at the benefits and drawbacks of AI for POCUS, with the most prominent advantage being its ability to help novice users perform complex tasks at the point of care once reserved for specialists. Authors found 16 studies that validate POCUS AI’s accuracy, particularly for acute care, but there was less evidence in non-acute settings.
- Rad Practice Settles PPP Claim: A radiology practice in Virginia agreed to pay $2.9M to settle claims that it inflated its payroll when applying for a Paycheck Protection Program loan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal investigators accused Fairfax Radiological Consultants of claiming 500 employees when it applied for a $6.7M PPP loan in April 2020 when it actually employed fewer than 100 people. The practice received full loan forgiveness when it was only entitled to $4.9M.
- Konica Minolta Updates Exa Platform: Konica Minolta Healthcare Americas launched the latest update of its Exa Platform medical image management software. The new version of Exa PACS|RIS includes a new API for easier integration with strategic partners, as well as improved multiplanar reconstruction functionality and full 3D-generated image reconstruction and segmentation that gives clinicians access to advanced 3D tools without leaving the Exa viewer.
- Novant Buys Practices for MedQuest: Novant Health is continuing its imaging expansion by acquiring 18 medical imaging practices in North Carolina from an orthopedic practice that’s divesting its radiology business. Novant in 2023 formed a joint venture with PE firm TPG to expand its MedQuest Associates imaging business nationwide – MedQuest currently operates over 50 outpatient centers and mobile imaging scanners.
- Lantheus Completes $1B Evergreen Buy: Lantheus Holdings last week completed its acquisition of Evergreen Theragnostics in a purchase first announced in January. The acquisition gives Lantheus a boost in the promising theranostics radiopharmaceutical segment – for example, Evergreen is developing Octevy, a PET diagnostic imaging agent that complements Lantheus’ PNT2003 therapeutic candidate. Lantheus agreed to pay $1B in upfront and milestone payments for Evergreen.
- SimonMed Deploys Follow-Up Software: Imaging services provider SimonMed Imaging has successfully deployed ImagineSoftware’s RadNav application for improving patient engagement and tracking follow-ups. SimonMed’s own AI technology identifies which patients need follow-up imaging, and RadNav’s engagement tools deliver personalized notifications, reminders, and educational support to make sure they don’t miss appointments.
- Heartflow’s Fresh Funds: Heartflow closed an additional investment round through $98M worth of convertible notes, bringing the company to $890M in total funding. The fresh financing will support Heartflow’s R&D efforts for its coronary CT angiography+Heartflow pathway for noninvasive CAD diagnosis and management.
- X-Ray Exposure Affects Blood Values: Occupational exposure to medical X-ray radiation appears to affect radiographers’ hematological values. Researchers took blood samples from 200 radiographers in Pakistan and compared them to healthy controls, finding that radiographers had decreased values for white blood cells (7.4 vs. 8.1), granulocytes (4.3 vs. 4.9), and mean corpuscular volume (86.6 vs. 87.1), and elevated values for mean platelet volume (9.7 vs. 9.6) and plateletcrit (0.26 vs. 0.24).
- RT Education Acquisition: In a consolidation of healthcare education providers, Ascend Learning acquired Clover Learning, a California-based provider of online healthcare training and exam prep tools with a focus on radiologic technologists. Ascend has been building its portfolio of allied health education brands, and the acquisition will give it access to Clover’s video courses, ARRT review question banks and mock exams, and CE courses.
- AutoRadAI’s Autonomous Reporting Buzz: A software company from India generated buzz on LinkedIn last week by emerging from stealth with claims that it had developed an autonomous radiology reporting application. AutoRadAI claims its application can generate “fully automated radiology reports with near 100% accuracy” for all modalities and body regions. But commenters speculated the software was probably an NLP model that turns ambient dictation into structured reports that then need to be approved by radiologists. AutoRadAI is offering a trial version for download.
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The Growth of AI in Pulmonology
Learn more about the capabilities of AI for chest imaging in this on-demand webinar from Blackford. You’ll hear pulmonology professionals discuss several promising areas, from acute imaging through chest X-ray analysis to lung cancer screening.
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The Advantages of Cloud-Based PACS
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Enhancing Patient Experience and Streamlining Operations
Jefferson County Health Center transformed their image exchange by eliminating the need for CDs, saving over 1,000 staff hours annually and improving radiology patient satisfaction scores by 7.6%. Learn how JCHC enhanced patient care and operational efficiency with PocketHealth.
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- AMRIC’s Multimodality Approach to Medical Imaging: AMRIC is a new premium imaging clinic on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Learn about their multimodality approach to medical imaging and why they turned to United Imaging for cutting-edge CT, MRI, and molecular imaging technology.
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- Enterprise Imaging in the Cloud: What are the benefits of cloud-based enterprise image management? Check out this Imaging Wire Show interview with Tracy Byers, CEO of enterprise imaging at Optum, on the importance of the cloud in radiology.
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- Presenting Unboxing AI: Check out CARPL’s video series, Unboxing AI, featuring experts discussing AI and its future in radiology. The next episode on April 10 features Mads Jarner Brevadt of Radiobotics – reserve your seat today.
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- AI for Pediatric Fracture Detection: Pediatric fractures are common but can be easily missed on radiography. Meanwhile, AI tools for fracture detection have mostly been tested in adults. Learn how Gleamer’s BoneView AI solution helped clinicians find fractures in kids in a recent research study.
- Feel the Freedom of Helium-Free MRI: Lift limitations and experience MRI excellence with Philips BlueSeal, the industry’s lightest, vent pipe-free, high-performance, helium-free 1.5T scanner. Save on helium and energy costs, achieve precise AI-enhanced diagnoses, enjoy faster scans, and optimized workflows. Learn more today.
- Discover AI Apps Curated by Body Regions: Discover how Calantic Digital Solutions by Bayer supports you in tackling radiology challenges through multiple stages of the patient’s journey by offering AI solutions curated for specific body regions. Learn more about Calantic today.
- Challenges and Opportunities in Radiology: In this episode of Medality’s The Radiology Report podcast, Medality Co-Founder and CEO Daniel Arnold interviews Glenn Kaplan, MD, about the challenges and opportunities in radiology, including workforce shortages and capacity issues, and possible solutions.
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