By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    physical health
    5 Ways Playing Games Can Improve Neural and Physical Health
    September 9, 2022
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    February 16, 2022
    healthcare organization
    5 Actionable Strategies For Healthcare Organizations
    August 15, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    email marketing in healthcare
    Harnessing the Power of Email Marketing in Healthcare
    October 26, 2023
    healthcare claims
    The Role of Communication in Resolving Complex Workers’ Compensation Claims in Healthcare Settings
    September 22, 2024
    Wounds and Wisdom: What Motorcycle Accidents Teach Us About Health and Healing
    Wounds and Wisdom: What Motorcycle Accidents Teach Us About Health and Healing
    February 12, 2025
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: NYMIIS: Medical Imaging and Meaningful Use – It Is No Longer an Option
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health Reform > NYMIIS: Medical Imaging and Meaningful Use – It Is No Longer an Option
Health ReformRadiologySpecialties

NYMIIS: Medical Imaging and Meaningful Use – It Is No Longer an Option

Rich Pulvino
Last updated: September 29, 2013 8:11 am
Rich Pulvino
Share
6 Min Read
medical imaging and meaningful use
SHARE

medical imaging and meaningful useWith the creation of RIS, PACS and speech recognition, radiology once led the technology revolution in the healthcare industry. Unfortunately, now it is a sector of that industry that has fallen behind, on account of it lagging in the adoption of Meaningful Use (MU) criteria. But just because radiology is behind does not mean adoption is impossible.

medical imaging and meaningful useWith the creation of RIS, PACS and speech recognition, radiology once led the technology revolution in the healthcare industry. Unfortunately, now it is a sector of that industry that has fallen behind, on account of it lagging in the adoption of Meaningful Use (MU) criteria. But just because radiology is behind does not mean adoption is impossible.

This was the discussion presented by Dr. Keith Dreyer at New York Medical Imaging Informatics Symposium (NYMIIS) in New York City on September 16. In fact, MU adoption is picking up in the industry, but not as fast as the rates among physicians and hospitals. The numbers say that as of 2013, about 14% of radiologists are involved in the MU stages, while 50% of physicians are participating. Dr. Dreyer explained that this gap exists because of the silos and compartmentalization that exists between radiology practices and other departments in health facilities. RIS/PACS currently function separately from the EHR, and while progress is being made is alleviating this issue, there is still much to be done.

Ordering, scheduling and communication between physicians and patients are improving, but there remains a vital need for workflow and interpretation of studies. Between the information housed in the RIS/PACS and the EHRs, this is essentially two programs doing practically the same thing in terms of the information stored. Convergence is necessary if workflow and interpretation are to be improved.

More Read

doctor shortage looms
Are We About to Face a Severe Doctor Shortage?
Medicaid Expansion Under the Affordable Care Act: The “Before” Picture
State Insurance Exchange Blind Spots: The Unknown Risks and Unintended Consequences
Congestive Heart Failure
Physician Burnout and the Changing Approach to Practice

Dr. Dreyer explained the fact that only 14% of radiologists are involved in MU is troubling considering that 90% of radiologists are eligible for the incentives. But the growth is promising—while 450 radiologists participated in MU in 2011, that number increased by 3,500 in 2012, and is predicted to increase by 6,000 in 2013, and by 8,000 more in 2014. Growth is occurring, but radiology is still going to be playing catch-up to the rest of the healthcare sector.

To provide guidance, Dr. Dreyer outlined a 10 step plan to help radiologists work their way through MU:

  1. Understand the MU program—the deadlines and responsibilities.
  2. Understand your organization’s plan for MU of eligible professionals (EPs)
  3. Gain institutional acceptance for participation in the organization’s MU/EP plan
  4. Understand and identify the certified EHR technology (CERHT) to be used for compliance
  5. Determine MU measures that are available and required in your practice
  6. Decree MU policies for activities, interpreting the regulations specific to your radiology practice
  7. Create a comprehensive set of MU compliance documents
  8. Review compliance documents with institutional stakeholders (CMIO, CIO, etc.)
  9. Review MU compliance documents among radiology staff
  10. Implement the strategies early with the appropriate dashboard to measure successes

Following the run-through of these 10 steps, Dr. Dreyer then went on to provide advice for radiology departments of different sizes—small practice/imaging center, medium practice/single hospital and large practice/multi-hospital system/imaging centers. The larger practices are the ones more likely involved in MU because these are the organizations that either already installed their own CEHRT or are able to access the health system’s CEHRT. Because of this, Dr. Dreyer went into more detail about the two smaller categories.

With the small practices and imaging centers, Dr. Dreyer recommended investigating the technology that is common across all centers similar to this size. This should provide some essential background information on the most appropriate solutions to implement. Based on the research collected, he said that it is possible for smaller practices to install a stand along CEHRT solution.

For the single hospital and medium practices, he recommended using existing CEHRT for program compliance. These smaller practices should convince hospital leadership to expand their MU program to include radiologists, since it is most likely focused only on physician EHRs. Much of the data entry will be performed by others, which makes it difficult to take advantage of special exclusions, and may require a pack for use of the technology.

To wrap up his talk, Dr. Dreyer reiterated how MU is marking a new era for radiology. He said that once that complete execution could help and hurt some depending on financial costs and ability to properly maintain the data. Overall, there is no denying that imaging health records are beginning to play a great role in the healthcare space. So much so that we are now beginning to see patients access their images, which is not required until MU stage 3. The MU pace of adoption is speeding up, and radiology cannot afford to be fall behind any further than it already is.

(Medical imaging / shutterstock)

TAGGED:meaningful usemedical imaging
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Health
May 15, 2025
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction heart treatment
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction
Cardiology
May 13, 2025

You Might also Like

Neil Kudler, MD
Radiology

Relationship Between Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) & Radiology Must Evolve

October 26, 2015
Health careSkinSpecialties

How to Find a Qualified Doctor EXTENSION

September 10, 2019

Medicaid: Not Just for the Poor Anymore

March 7, 2011
cancer supportive care
Specialties

What is Cancer Supportive Care and How Can It Help Cancer Patients?

April 19, 2021
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?