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There’s a new service approach taking hold in medical imaging facilities across the country. A “build-from-within” strategy designed to give healthcare organizations a real alternative to restrictive OEM and ISO service contracts. It’s a true paradigm shift that’s also giving BioMeds the tools, skills, and guidance they need to take on a role in imaging service.
For years, we’ve led the industry away from the status quo and into a revolutionary way of thinking. Now we’re taking another step forward with our BioMed to Imaging Academy. This mentor-led program creates a path from BioMed to medical imaging service professional. It’s designed to reduce stress and build confidence through one-on-one, dedicated support from industryleading imaging experts and mentors, each with decades of experience training other professionals on the most advanced imaging systems in the world.
Are you ready to walk the path to a career in imaging service? Then contact us today. We’ll not only help you take that first step, we’ll guide you all the way.
Build confidence with the support of mentor-guided training!
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Efficiency is important and being efficient means listening to patients tell their story.
Nearly three years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of global disruptions to the health care system are still being felt.
UH St. John Medical Center Radiology Manager Jeremy “Jay” Tolaro, RT(N), CNMT, says doing work to help people became important to him at a young age.
Catch up on the latest news from around the diagnostic imaging world.
Manufacturers share some of the latest and greatest in contrast imaging.
The most common reason people quit is they’re tired of dealing with someone who’s not doing what’s needed in the management role.
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CT Lead Technologist Robin L. Jackson, RT(R) CT, AA, is an imaging leader at Madison Hospital, in Madison, Alabama.
Dr. Vaughn Eason nominated Jackson for the In Focus article.
“Robin led her department in getting their two CT scanners certified through the American College of Radiology. Although working with limited staffing, her team has achieved record numbers each month for the number of patient exams com pleted,” Eason said.
Jackson’s decision to be come an imaging leader started thanks to a family friend.
“A friend of the family was a mammographer who suggested the radiology school. I worked as an X-ray technologist, lead
X-ray tech and clinical instruc tor before moving into CT,” Jackson explained. “I worked as a CT tech for radiation therapy planning and eventually moved into the position I am in now after a relocation.”
When asked about her great est accomplishment, Jackson is among those elite parents who manage to grow a successful ca reer while also caring for family.
“I would have to say it has been raising and caring for a family while I grew in my career as a working woman,” she re plied when asked. “I have been married for 30 years. I have one son in the Army National Guard and two daughters, one living in Oregon and the youngest living here in my area.”
She loves her job and sees a bright future with the opportu nity for more growth.
Robin L. Jackson is an imaging leader at Madison Hospital in Alabama.“I enjoy the blend of technology and health care. It’s always changing, so you always have something new to learn while you are helping others,” Jackson said. “I think the imaging horizon is limitless due to advancing technology, AI, robotics, IR advancements.”
Growth is a vital aspect of Jackson’s outlook.
“Leadership for me is a constant growing experience for myself, while working alongside my team in whatev er capability. Because I cross train a lot of technologists, they become a family for me that I am proud to shape and
share with,” she explained. “I feel it is imperative to always have their backs even when the learning is difficult.” Her leadership in many ways reflects her experiences.
“In my early career, my department director was very much a mentor. He was great in being able to look ahead for growth and development of our department. He always had a fair and open approach, even when he disagreed,” Jackson said. “I hope that as a lead tech nologist I am mentoring on some level to each of the techs on my team.” •
1. What book are you reading currently? “Watchers” by Dean Koontz.
2. Favorite movie? “Pretty Woman.” I always liked the way her honesty and genuine being is the hero to a successful businessman, teaching him what is really important.
3. What is something most of your coworkers don’t know about you? I spent two summers in Belize, Central America. I worked as a missionary teaching Bible school and helping to build a house to bring a teacher to a remote mountain village.
4. Who is your mentor? My supervisor Leslie Wallace has taught me a lot about personal approach to problems and tempering my strong personality. She is able to take care of the business situations in our department while still being a caring leader to the individuals in our department. Also, Vaughn Eason is a mentor that I look forward to working with in the future as he is a new addition to our leadership/ supervisory team.
5. What is one thing you do every morning to start your day? One thing I do each morning is to take care of my animals. I have five rescue dogs, three of which are abuse/neglect bully breeds, two rescue cats and four horses. My husband does the majority of care for the horses, but it is safe to say my animal feed costs are higher than my grocery costs.
6. Best advice you ever received? Be true to yourself while caring for others.
7. Who has had the biggest influence on your life? My family has had the most influence in my life, both my own nuclear family and my extended family. I have been blessed to have a wealth of love, support and knowledge afforded to my through my family and my faith.
8. What would your superpower be? If I had a superpower, it would be to always be able to rescue those in true need, whether human or animal.
9. What are your hobbies? I have had several hobbies over time, crafting, gardening etc. But now as empty nesters, I would have to say that my main hobbies are adventures and spending time with my husband wherever it finds us.
10. What is your perfect meal? Anything I don’t have to cook.
Robin L. Jackson is seen with a CT in the background at Madison Hospital.National Boss’s Day came and went earlier this year. Being a leader is not easy! Our worked hours are not less, they are more. Our employees, however, see things differently. We are there to serve them, thus the term “servant leadership.” So how should we serve our team?
I believe that we should help them be happier in life, help them develop friendships at work, and help them experience a fuller life while at work. Our people are our greatest assets, and if we fail our people, we will fail our patients! I overheard an employee on the phone with one of her coworkers yesterday saying, “No, you are over thinking this. You just need to go to sleep, get some rest, and you’ll feel better about this when you wake up.” That was a true friend conversation. Do you have the con nections with your team to be able to give that advice and it is accepted? Trust is earned over time. I am still working on building trust with my team. My administra tive team has been promoting “self-care” to the lead ership team during morning safety meetings, and they also “live it.” It is very unusual for me to get an email or text after-hours, only because they want us to discon
nect when we are away from work so that we can “fill up our cups.” (Remember, you cannot fill up someone else’s cup if yours is empty.) When I do get that unusual after-hours text from my CEO, I know that it is “real,” and deserving of my immediate attention. He has earned my respect by the way that he is handling the leadership team. Have I told him this? No. Why? I am not sure why! Let’s go back to where I said that “National Boss’s Day came and went.” I did not say a thing last week to my boss, but it was not from lack of respect or appreciation. So, if you are one of those leaders who didn’t get recognition on National Boss’s Day, it’s OK! Hopefully, you are being a true servant leader who knows in your heart that you are doing the very best you can for your team!
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please reach out to me at Brenda.DeBastiani@BraveraHealth.com. •
– Brenda Debastian i is the AHRA 2022-2023 President.
Share your RAD IDEA via an email to editor@mdpublishing.com
EDITOR’S NOTE: This RAD Idea is an excerpt from an AHRA post used with permission. You can read the entire blog post at tinyurl.com/4mefht6w.
UH St. John Medical Center Radiology Manager Jeremy “Jay” Tolaro, RT(N), CNMT, holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences from Cleveland State University. He is currently pursuing an MBA in healthcare administration from CSU.
Originally born in Washington, D.C., Tolaro is a self-described “Army brat” who lived in several states before his family settled outside of Cleveland, Ohio when he was 8. ICE Magazine found out more about this rising star in a recent interview.
Q: WHERE DID YOU RECEIVE YOUR IMAGING TRAINING/EDUCATION? WHAT DEGREES/CERTIFICATIONS DO YOU HAVE?
A: I attended Cleveland State University and the University of Findlay for my schooling. At Findlay, I studied nuclear medicine and did my clinical rotation at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center which helped me to get certified in NM by the ARRT and NMTCB. At CSU, I completed by bachelor’s degree in health sciences and am currently enrolled in the healthcare administration MBA program.
Q: HOW DID YOU FIRST DECIDE TO START WORKING IN IMAGING?
A: My mother worked in health care and my father was a po
lice officer, so the idea of doing something to help people became important to me at a young age. In high school, I got my first hospital job working in a hospital cafeteria and roughly six months later, I transferred to the radiology file room. There, I filed and stored films in patient jackets and got my first taste of imaging and started to think about it as a career.
A: Around 2003, when I was an undergrad at CSU, I was speaking with the lead technologist about how I was think ing about applying to X-ray school. She suggested I visit the chief radiologist and have him explain nuclear medicine to me because she thought it better fit my personality and interests. I did and Dr. Konstan showed me a couple SPECT scans and how he could rotate, flip and scroll through the images to see what he needed. The idea that I could see how the body was working versus just what it looked like really appealed to me so I immediately applied to the Nuclear Medicine Institute at the University of Findlay
A: I like seeing how important radiology is to health care, both in relation to a patient’s individual care but also to supporting other operations in the hospital. I don’t think that many people outside of radiology or finance understand how truly important radiology is, not only to patient care but in supporting other processes and departments around the hospital. Being able to get involved in committees and proj ects that all aim to better the experience and/or outcomes for our patients is definitely interesting – especially since it also helps me to get a better understanding how all the different specialties interact.
A: The advancing technologies in imaging and new imaging techniques are very interesting to me, especially multimodal ity imaging like PET/CT, PET/MR, X-ray/MR, photoacoustic tomography, and others. With these technologies combining the ability to see how the body works with one modality and the anatomic detail of another, the imaging field has an exciting future.
A: I think my greatest accomplishment in the field is a tie between been getting named operations section chief for our hospital’s COVID Incident Command Team and being recognized by my leaders for my hard work by promoting me to manager. Being the COVID OSC gave me a whole new insight into leading within my department because it forced me to step outside of it to consider opportunities I would not have normally thought of. I got a chance to interact with others around the hospital that I typically had not had much contact with.
Q: WHAT GOALS DO YOU HAVE FOR YOURSELF IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS?
A: Within the next 5 years, I want to complete my MBA in healthcare administration, grow my department (staff, equip ment and services), and continue to improve as a manager and leader. I don’t like to set a goal in terms of a position or title and instead prefer to focus my energy on where and how I can get better. I believe that keeps me from focusing only on what is needed for the next step and lets my work speak for itself. If done well enough, my peers and leaders will recog nize it when the next step is available. •
FAVORITE HOBBY: Hunting, fishing, boating, camping, and video gaming
FAVORITE SHOW: “Good Eats,” “Seal Team”
FAVORITE FOOD: Steak
FAVORITE VACATION SPOT: My best friend’s cabin in Grayling, Michigan.
1 THING ON YOUR BUCKET LIST: Go on a long camping, hunting, and fishing trip to somewhere like Alaska or Canada, where the closest town is something like 100 miles away and I can only hear the sounds of nature. Or, take a month long road trip across North America to see as many landmarks and attractions as possible (like the Painted Dessert, Grand Canyon, Hot Springs, Mount McKinley, Mount Rushmore, etc.) and find as many delicious foods as possible (“Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” style).
SOMETHING YOUR CO-WORKERS DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU: I started shaving my head for a fundraiser to support kids with cancer (www. stbaldricks.org). I participated in the fundraiser for 10 years and raised over $11,500. Although I’ve taken a temporary break from the fundraising, I keep my head shaved in support (and because it’s easier to get ready in the morning) and plan on doing it again with my son.
As the MRI department manager at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, New Jersey, Mark Linderman has a number of responsibilities across all departmental operations, from imaging and scheduling to patient safety, payroll and staff training.
“We currently run two magnets seven days a week, aver aging about 11,000 scans per year, and we are currently in the evaluation phase of expanding to another system as we continue to grow our practice,” Linderman said. “We are a community hospital doing university hospital-level imaging. We stay ahead of the trend to offer our patients the best possible outcomes.”
Linderman, like many medical professionals, is a huge fan of coffee – so much so, that he developed a reputation in his family for being particular about what he drinks. But during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, com pulsory business closures throughout his home state of New Jersey meant that Linderman was frequently out of luck trying to get a decent cup of coffee. So the imaging professional decided he had no other recourse but to try to roast his own beans.
“I was such a picky coffee fanatic that when I couldn’t get what I liked, I set out to do it myself,” Linderman said. “The first time I tried roasting in my kitchen, the whole
house filled with the aroma of coffee and chocolate, and then as the bean hit first crack, the whole house filled with smoke. My wife started screaming, ‘What are you doing now?’ ”
The pandemic had also made conditions in the hospi tal more difficult than usual. Non-essential services had been temporarily shut down, and with all resources being devoted to mitigating the impact on emergency services, staffing assignments changed almost daily. All that work was made more difficult for want of good coffee.
“Wherever you’re needed, you had to go in the hospi tal,” Linderman said. “One day you’re doing MRI; the next day, some of my techs were in the morgue. Then, they were feeding patients. So, to bring a bit of happiness to their day, I brought beans and a grinder to work.”
“I would grind, brew and package small bags of coffee and donate them to my fellow health care workers,” he said. “I tried to share what I was doing to bring some happiness to people. Once they smelled those beans, the aroma would get them, and then came the funny smile on their face.”
“My new hobby to find good coffee started out just for me, but as I started bringing it to work and sharing it with other people, the need to share became overwhelming,” Linderman said.
Armed with a 90-gram tabletop roaster and some Yan kee ingenuity, Linderman’s subsequent attempts started to hone a little closer to the mark – so much so that he
began bringing samples of his home roast into work. His wife followed suit, and then, as the coffee found an audience, he realized he’d need to upgrade his operation.
So, Linderman purchased a miniaturized commercial roaster that allowed him to standardize his processes by tracking the roasting profile over subsequent batches, and dialing in the temperature to allow for greater consistency. As things continued to grow, he attended a wholesale cof fee school, and eventually roasting school, to learn about the roasting industry and more about commercial-scale roasting.
“I learned tasting, density of the beans, moisture con tent, how you can create profiles to bring out the best flavors of the beans,” Linderman said. “Through trial and error, and over time, I developed what works best for me.”
“My wife, Susana, who used to call me a coffee snob, is now a coffee snob herself,” he said. “Once you get that taste of freshly roasted coffee, it’s hard to go back.”
When the family was workshopping names for the busi ness, they settled on “South Side Coffee Company.” Mark Linderman grew up on the south side of Bloomfield, New Jersey, and the family now lives on the south side of Scotch Plains, New Jersey.
The company takes its branding inspiration from their family heritage: its dominant image began as that of a linden tree, their namesake, with the blooms replaced by coffee beans. Markings on the coffee beans are Mark’s initials in the Taino language of Puerto Rico, the land of his ancestry. And the red bird atop its boughs is a nod to his departed father, whose passing was marked by that of a cardinal that appeared in their grief.
“Happiness – Roasted” is its motto, which Mark Lind erman said is symbolic of his intention to bring people together by sharing a bit of happiness through freshly roasted coffee.
South Side Coffee Company works with importers who source beans from Jerico, Colombia; Chiapas, Mexico; Minas Gerais, Brazil; Huehuetenango, Guatemala; and East Timor. The business aims at a fair-trade, organic model, and is transitioning to biodegradable packaging to pursue a course of sustainability.
After two years of getting the business up and running, Mark now roasts on a full-scale commercial roaster, and the Lindermans are aiming to grow South Side Coffee Com pany into a storefront location, thanks to a trial run at local farmers markets and community events.
“We hope to grow the business into a European Style café/coffee bar, where I can roast in-house, and serve my community the best coffee available to them,” he said. “I want customers who take the time to support us to be able to brew their best at home.”
While Mark roasts, Susana, who is herself an ultra sound technologist and the radiology assistant manag er at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, helps package and ship the product to customers. Their three children, who range in age from 13 to 18, also pitch in.
“I think it’s wonderful that we’ve started a family busi ness,” Mark Linderman said. “We want to see where it goes. My kids tell me that they’re very proud of me, since I’ve actually accomplished what I set out to do!” •
Registration is now open for the 2023 Imaging Con ference and Expo (ICE). ICE 2023 is set for Febru ary 17-19 in Music City inside the recently renovated Renaissance Nashville Hotel. Registration – including free registration for hospital employees, students and active military – is available online at AttendICE.com. Walk-up registration will begin at noon on Friday, February 17, 2023, onsite at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel.
ICE is the only conference dedicated to imaging directors, radiology administrators and imaging en gineers from hospital imaging departments, free standing imaging centers and group practices. The first day of educational sessions kicks off on Saturday morning. Attendees can add to their knowledge while leading companies from throughout the nation set up their booths in the exhibit hall.
An ICE Break from noon to 1 p.m. gives everyone a chance to stretch their legs before the afternoon educational sessions followed by the Exhibit Hall Grand Opening and Welcome Reception at 4:30 p.m. On Sunday, the classes start a little earlier with the first sessions set for 9 a.m. followed by an 11 a.m. round of classes. The exhibit hall will be open for two hours beginning at 12:30 p.m. with a free lunch served
inside the hall.
Super Sessions cap off the educational offerings. The 90-minute presentations begin at 2:30 p.m. Ev eryone is invited to attend the Finale Party after the Super Sessions. This is an opportunity to celebrate the industry, catch up with friends and colleagues while also making new connections. ICE offers valu able CE credits (pending approval) and, keeping in line with successful conferences in the past, offers comprehensive educational opportunities for attend ees.
Whether it’s invaluable continuing education, productive networking or the exclusive exhibit hall, attendees will have the perfect opportunity to en hance their careers and spend time with colleagues. As an added incentive, ICE conference admission is complimentary for all health care professionals, active members of the military and students.
ICE 2023 also features a CRES Study Group and Prep Class for an additional fee. The first session is Friday, August 17 from 1-5 p.m. The second session is slated for Saturday, February 18 from 8 a.m. to noon. • For more information, visit AttendICE.com.
At the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) Annual Meeting, GE Healthcare introduced Omni Legend, the first system on its all-new, all-digital PET/CT platform.
“This cutting-edge system features a brand-new cate gory of digital BGO (dBGO) detector material with a small crystal size that delivers more than two times the sensitivity of prior digital scanners, enabling faster total scan times and impressive small lesion detectability. It is designed to improve operational efficiency, enhance the patient experience, and increase diagnostic power, ideally helping to enable improved patient outcomes,” according to a press release. “Additionally, the system’s theranostics capabilities and ability to image short life tracers, as well as dynamic protocols, help empow er clinicians with greater clinical information across more oncology, cardiology, and neurology procedure types than ever before.”
“Sensitivity and image quality are everything in PET/ CT,” explains John Kennedy, Ph.D., chief physicist, nuclear medicine department, Rambam Health Care Campus, and lecturer at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. “Omni Legend delivers on both – meeting all our image quality criteria for oncology and providing impressive sensitivity to image high count tracers for cardiac and neuro imaging, which helps better inform patient diagnoses and monitor ing. Also, we have been able to increase patient throughput by more than a third thanks to the system’s fast total scan times – even achieving 35 patient scans in a 9.5-hour shift – and reduce dose by 40% versus the previous equipment that was installed. This not only enables better patient access and experience but also allows us to increase overall hospital efficiency.”
As the pace of change in health care continues to in crease, health plan leaders cite managing costs and driving operational efficiency as the top two challenges they face today. This is consistent with comments by global molecular imaging departments, which note operational efficiency as a
top barrier to growing PET/CT procedure volumes.
Omni Legend is GE Healthcare’s response to these growing challenges, helping health care systems overcome today’s barriers with a collection of intuitive workflow solu tions enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI), including its new Precision DLi solution for deep learning image processing in PET/CT as well as its AI-based Auto Positioning Camera.
More than a new processing technique, Precision DLi is engineered using Deep Learning with a sophisticated deep neural network trained on thousands of images created with different reconstruction methods. It was designed to provide the image quality performance benefits most associated with hardware-based Time-of-Flight, such as better contrast-tonoise ratio, contrast recovery, and quantitative accuracy.
The capabilities of Omni Legend are further elevated by the inclusion of Q.Clear (BSREM), GE Healthcare’s pioneering PET image reconstruction technology, and MotionFree, the company’s proven, deviceless respiratory motion correction technology. Q.Clear helps to ensure reliable quantification, while MotionFree operates seamlessly in the background to correct respiratory motion artifacts for all patient types.
Furthermore, the new system’s operational efficiency solutions help improve the PET/CT imaging experience for the technologist and the patient with convenient features that provide:
• A fast data quality assurance process that saves time with streamlined calibration;
• Simplified protocol selection on the gantry touch screen and a new user interface to enable an easy PET/CT process from start to finish; and
• Enhanced patient positioning capabilities as a result of AI-based Auto Positioning that automatically cen ters the patient for a completely hands-free position ing experience.
This streamlined patient setup frees up technologists to focus on making patients feel more comfortable. •
RS&A LLC, an established medical device indepen dent service provider for radiotherapy equipment, most notably external beam linear accelerators (LINACs), has announced its acquisition of Summit Imaging.
Founded in 2006, Summit Imaging is a tech-en abled provider of medical imaging equipment repair, refurbishment, and exchange services to health care facilities, independent service organizations and OEMs across North America, primarily focused on ultrasound and mammography. Summit’s deep industry expertise, technical capabilities and pro prietary software solutions perfectly complement RSA’s existing service offering and will augment its collective ability to deliver critical support to its health care customers.
The combined entity will be a stronger, more di versified organization providing high-value services across multiple modalities resulting in a sustainable (eco-friendly) parts infrastructure, improved system performance, reduced costs related to mission-crit
ical health care equipment and expanded access to RT treatments.
“The entire Summit team and I are elated about our partnership with DJ and the RSA team,” said Larry Nguyen, the founder of Summit, and newly appointed CIO of RSA. “Our teams are fundamen tally aligned in our cultural values, our commitment to our clients, and our desire to deliver the high est-quality services in direct support of health care providers, and the service community to improve patient care.”
“We could not be more excited to partner with Larry, and the entire team at Summit Imaging as we continue building RSA into a premier, national ISP,” adds RSA CEO DJ Conrad. “The acquisition mean ingfully expands RSAs capabilities and reach. We will immediately be able to leverage Summit’s dif ferentiated technical capabilities across our collec tive customer base to improve medical equipment uptime, performance and the overall delivery of care for our customers.” •
Spectrum Dynamics has announced its new est development in digital nuclear medicine imaging: the capability to image high energy isotopes using solid-state detector technolo gy in a 3600-CZT based, wide-bore SPECT/ CT configuration. This functionality is avail able in the new VERITON-CT 400 Series Dig ital SPECT/CT scanners, enabling total body, brain, heart and other imaging applications.
The VERITON-CT 400 Series features Spectrum Dynamics’ radical design, with its 3600 ring-shaped gantry with 12 swiveling CZT detectors, that revolutionized nuclear medicine imaging industry in 2017. During the scan, the digital detectors automatically fol low the patient’s body contour, providing ex ceptional proximity for increased sensitivity and better image quality. This design results in three times the volumetric sensitivity for routine 3D hybrid imaging without com promising patients comfort or department workflow. The scanner is available in 16-slice CT and 64-slice CT configuration enabling localization and attenuation correction for accurate quantification.
“The new VERITON-CT 400 has proved to be advantageous for high-energy tracers. In our nuclear medicine community, the main challenge now is to personalize and adapt targeted treatments to each individual. This requires precise determination of the distri bution of delivered doses within the body. The scanner has the potential to do so with high quantitative accuracy and fast scan times to be used for a routine application,” said Prof. Pierre-Yves Marie, MD, Ph.D., head department of nuclear medicine, University Hospital of Nancy, France. •
NeuroLogica Corp., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., announced that its Elite Mobile Computed Tomogra phy (CT) systems have received the European Union (EU) CE marking via compliance with the new EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR 2017/745). The assessment and certification completed by the EU’s Notified Body includes the approval of the OmniTom Elite, BodyTom Elite and CereTom Elite mobile CT systems.
“The achievement of this certification sheds light on our continued dedication to bringing innovative solutions to hospi tals and clinics globally,” said Jason Koshnitsky, Senior Director of Global Sales and Marketing, NeuroLogica. “It will allow a greater number of health care providers to have access to cut ting-edge diagnostic imaging to deliver high-end patient care.”
The EU MDR (EU Medical Device Regulation 2017/745) replaced the previous EU MDD (Medical Device Directive 93/42/EEC). The updated regulations place a strong emphasis on technical documentation, clinical data and post-market surveillance.
“NeuroLogica already complies with the United States Food and Drug Administration quality system regulations and is certified to ISO 13485 standard. Our products and processes comply with global regulatory requirements allowing design, manufacturing, installation, service and engineering of imaging systems for medical applications,” said Dr. Ninad Gujar, vice president of regulatory affairs, quality assurance and corporate compliance. “Compliance with EU MDR is an important regu latory milestone that exhibits NeuroLogica’s efforts towards demonstrating conformance to EU regulatory requirements, making mobile CT systems available in the European Eco nomic Area and remaining committed to product quality and safety.”
Currently providing advanced technology to more than 50 countries globally, NeuroLogica has existing partners in Europe working as Economic Operators and an established network of distributors to continue to support customers. The compa ny’s mobile CT product line will continue to be manufactured in Danvers, Massachusetts in the United States, and will be exported to customers in the EU. •
Clarius Mobile Health, a provider of high-definition wireless ultrasound systems, recently announced Clarius Marketplace, a new platform that enables ultrasound innovators to bring their AI-powered software solutions to market faster by integrating with the Clarius ecosystem, which includes 10 wireless ultrasound scanners and advanced Software-as-a-Service. Clarius members will gain access to solutions designed to streamline ultrasound training, improve workflows, speed diagnoses and automate reporting.
“Clarius is the only ultrasound company that offers an open-source plat form that enables easy integration with countless AI-powered innovations that will make handheld ultrasound an indispensable tool for more clinicians,” says Founder and Chief Innovation Officer Laurent Pelissier. “We live in a world where new apps that make our lives easier pop up every day on the App Store and Google Play; our open platform and Clarius Marketplace will enable a similar proliferation of innovation in the ultrasound space that will ultimately improve access to medical imaging for patients.”
Clarius also announced a new version of the software development kit, called the Clarius SDK, which empowers third-party developers to seamlessly integrate AI-powered ultrasound software with Clarius handheld ultrasound systems, the Clarius App and the Clarius Cloud exam management platform. The Clarius SDK provides developers with a set of tools to quickly take their solution from code directly to the clinician’s hand without creating custom hardware.
Through Clarius Marketplace, clinicians who purchased a Clarius scanner with the Clarius Membership will have free access to trial ultrasound innovation designed to improve workflows, streamline training, help with faster diagnoses and automate reporting. •
Just because you don’t have the room or budget to build a full MRI, CT or PET/CT suite does not mean you can’t have those capabilities at your facility. Our Interim Medical Imaging solutions are completely mobile, can be parked and set up just about anywhere, and can remain at your facility for as long as you need them – be it a few days or a few weeks.
Google Cloud has announced Medical Imaging Suite, a new industry solution that makes imaging health care data more accessible, interoperable and useful.
Medical imaging is a critical tool used to diagnose patients, and there are billions of medical images scanned globally each year. Imaging data accounts for about 90 percent of all health care data and, until now, these complex images have been highly dependent on humans to read. In addition, the number of images continues to grow, increasing the workload for radiologists and other health care professionals tasked with interpreting these images for clinicians and patients. Google Cloud enables the development of AI for imaging to support faster, more accurate diagnosis of images, increased produc tivity for health care workers and improved care access and outcomes for patients.
“Google pioneered the use of AI and computer vision in Google Photos, Google Image Search, and Google Lens, and now we’re making our imaging expertise, tools, and technol ogies available for health care and life sciences enterprises,” said Alissa Hsu Lynch, Global Lead of Google Cloud’s MedTech Strategy and Solutions. “Our Medical Imaging Suite shows what’s possible when tech and health care companies come together.”
Google Cloud’s Medical Imaging Suite addresses common pain points organizations face in developing AI and machine learning models and uses this to enable data interoperability.
Components of the Medical Imaging Suite include:
• Imaging Storage: Cloud Healthcare API, part of the Medical Imaging Suite, allows easy and secure data exchange using the international DICOMweb standard for imaging. Cloud Healthcare API provides a fully managed, highly scalable, enterprise-grade de velopment environment and includes automated DICOM de-identi fication. Imaging technology partners include NetApp for seamless on-prem to cloud data management, and Change Healthcare, a cloud-native enterprise imaging PACS in clinical use by radiologists.
• Imaging Lab: AI-assisted annotation tools from NVIDIA and MONAI help automate the highly manual and repetitive task of labeling medical images, and Google Cloud also offers native inte gration with any DICOMweb viewer.
• Imaging Datasets & Dashboards: Organizations can use BigQ uery and Looker to view and search petabytes of imaging data to perform advanced analytics and create training datasets with zero operational overhead.
• Imaging AI Pipelines: Using Vertex AI on Google Cloud can accelerate development of AI pipelines to build scalable machine learning models, with 80 percent fewer lines of code required for custom modeling.
• Imaging Deployment: Finally, the Medical Imaging Suite offers flexible options for cloud, on-prem, or edge deployment to allow or ganizations to meet diverse sovereignty, data security, and privacy requirements – while providing centralized management and policy enforcement with Google Distributed Cloud, enabled by Anthos. •
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ResearchAndMarkets.com reports that the global contrast media market size is anticipated to reach $7.57 billion by 2030. The market is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.33% from 2022 to 2030.
The rising prevalence of chronic diseases is fueling the demand for diagnostic imaging treatments, which is propelling the market forward. Imaging studies, such as MRI, have become an important aspect of most disease diagnoses, and the widespread use of imaging technologies in health care has boosted the demand for contrast media globally.
Chronic diseases like cancer and diabetes are quickly becoming a major public health concern and are among the leading causes of mortality worldwide, necessitating the development of early detection techniques and effective treatment alternatives. As a result, one of the key drivers of imaging tests and contrast agents is the rising prevalence of compli cated comorbidities and long-term disorders, thus boosting the market worldwide.
Due to fewer patient visits to hospitals, the COVID-19 pandemic had a detrimental influence on the global contrast media market. The number of imaging cases in several radiology departments dropped dramatically. Many countries worldwide have begun to rebuild their economy, but it will take time for contrast media utilization rates to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Furthermore, with the launch of COVID-19 vac cines and the relaxation of restrictions, raw material imports and exports have begun, indicating that the market will develop at a high rate throughout the
projection period.
On the basis of modality, the X-ray/computed tomography segment held the largest market share in 2021, accounting for 69.53%. Wide acceptance and cost-efficiency of the X-ray/CT modality boost the adoption of contrast agents used for this modality.
Based on type, the iodinated contrast media segment held the largest market share in 2021, ac counting for 66.61%. This is due to their excellent radio-opacity and low toxicity than other agents.
Based on application, the neurological disorders segment dominated the market and held the largest revenue share of nearly 29.45%. Diagnostic evaluation of CNS for neurological disorders boosts the adoption of MRI contrast agents, as they provide better images of neural structures than CT.
ResearchAndMarkets.com, in a separate report, states that the U.S. contrast media market is antic ipated to reach $3.36 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 4.12%.
Grand View Research also states that the U.S. contrast media market size is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.12% from 2022 to 2030.
The increasing burden of chronic diseases is cre ating a demand for diagnostic imaging procedures, which, in turn, is driving the market. Imaging tests, such as MRI, have become an integral part of the diagnosis for most diseases, and large-scale pen etration of imaging technology in health care has increased the demand for contrast media in the U.S. market. Moreover, the rising demand for imaging procedures has resulted in extensive R&D activities by contrast media manufacturers to launch novel products in the market and to get approved for new indications. •
Fresenius Kabi has launched Gadoterate Meglu mine Injection, USP, a bioequivalent and ther apeutic equivalent substitute for the contrast agent Dotarem. Gadoterate Meglumine Injection is a gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) indicated for intravenous use with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in brain (intracranial), spine and associated tissues in adult and pediat ric patients (including term neonates) to detect and visualize areas with disruption of the blood brain barrier (BBB) and/or abnormal vascularity.
Carestream’s DRX-Excel Plus platform, which combines radiography and fluoroscopy (R/F) into one compact unit, uses a dynamic DR detector for both radiology and fluoroscopic sequences, delivering accelerated workflow and high-resolution images for a wide range of exams. Recently unveiled improvements to the system’s console, detector and mainframe – including a new Adam console with long-length imaging auto-stitching capability, as well as a new dynamic digital flat panel detector 43x43 cm with a smaller pixel pitch – augment workflow and the radiographer’s experience. DRX-Excel Plus supports a wide range of examinations, from barium enema to other gastrointestinal examinations, DIP and other urinary tract contrast media examinations. Pelvic, extremity and other examina tions in the field of orthopedic surgery can be easily performed as well. The DRX-Excel Plus achieves excellent image quality and optimizes dose, which not only helps radiographers, but also enhances patient safety and comfort.
*Disclaimer: Products are listed in no particular order.
NeuroLogica Corp., a subsidiary of Samsung Elec tronics Co. Ltd., recently announced its state-ofthe-art OmniTom Elite has received 510(k) clear ance for the addition of Photon Counting Detector (PCD) technology. NeuroLogica delivers the first FDA 510(k) cleared, single-source photon counting computed tomography (CT) scanner with single de tector on a mobile system. OmniTom Elite with PCD can generate spectral CT images at multiple energy levels. There is also potential with PCD to lower the dose requirements, and fundamentally change the use of injected contrast.
I-View® Contrast Enhanced Mammography technology paired with Affirm Contrast Biopsy software provides customers with a complete contrast solution for use in the mammography suite. I-View 2.0 Contrast Enhanced Mammography (CEM) technol ogy is an alternative to breast MRI – providing equivalent diagnostic performance. 1 , 2 The exam provides functional imaging information and highly detailed 2D images to increase diagnostic confidence with sensitivity and specificity to help guide the clinical pathway. Patients greatly prefer CEM over bMRI, for reasons such as faster procedure time, greater comfort, lower anxiety, and lower noise level. ³ The technology also offers a faster procedure as CEM is eight to 20 minutes of imaging time versus MRI’s 30 to 60 minutes. 4 Additionally, Hologic’s I-View CEM requires no pre-authorization and is 25% of the cost of an MRI. 5 The Affirm Contrast Biopsy solution allows clinicians to target and acquire tissue samples in lesions identified with CEM where a correlate may not be found on a FFDM, DBT or ultrasound image. The contrast agents used are the same as the ones commonly used in standard CT examinations. Contrast diagnostic exams and biopsy keep contrast exams in the mammography suite, using familiar mammography and biopsy procedures benefiting both providers and patients.
Chou C, Lewin J, Chiang C et al. “Clinical Evaluation of Contrast-Enhanced Digital Mammography and Contrast Enhanced Tomosynthesis-Comparison to Contrast-Enhanced Breast MRI” Eur J Radiol. 2015 Dec; 84(12):2501-8. [Epub 2015 Oct 1].
Jochelson M, Dershaw D, Sung J, et al., Bilateral con trast-enhanced dual-energy digital mammography: feasibility and comparison with conventional digital mammography and MR imaging in women with known breast carcinoma, Radiology 266 (3) (2013) 743–751
Hobbes M, Taylor D, Buzynski S et al. “Contrast-en hanced spectral mammography (CESM) and contrast enhanced spectral mammography (CESM) and contrast enhanced MRI (CEMRI): Patient preference and tolerance” J Med Imaging Radiat Oncol. 2015 Jun;59(3):300-5. [Epub 2015 Apr 21].
https://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?p g=breastmr=
Patel BK., et al, Potential Cost Savings of Con trast-Enhanced Digital Mammography. AJR Apr 2017.
The NAEOTOM Alpha photon-counting computed tomography (CT) scanner as well as the SOMATOM X. and SOMATOM go. CT plat forms from Siemens Healthineers feature myExam Companion, an intelligent user interface that uses clinical language and easy-to-fol low visuals to enable even inexperienced users to find the optimal combination of parameters for every patient and procedure. Dual Energy spectral imaging and CARE kV help the technologist main tain or improve image contrast-to-noise ratio while reducing the required amount of contrast media for each patient. Together with GO technologies, these CT systems deliver personalized imaging for precise dose and contrast media optimization. The combination of CARE Contrast III and pre-defined default contrast media proto cols¹ with myExam Companion clinical decision trees offers a holistic contrast media management solution, increasing process efficiency and standardizing quality in contrast enhancement. The Check&GO intelligent algorithm flags problems with scan coverage and contrast distribution. The FAST ROI (Region of Interest) feature automates aortic detection to help the technologist identify the optimal mo ment to begin contrast administration. Additionally, an integrated, gantry-mounted injector arm addresses the cost and complexities of traditional pedestal- and ceiling-mounted injector solutions.
Nearly three years after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the impact of global disruptions to the health care system are still being felt. Beyond large-scale considerations like staffing and logistical challenges, a number of lasting effects from the upheaval yet persist. However, alongside those considerations, so too does the resolve to confront them remain as well.
The kinds of changes that the pan demic imparted on the whole of the health care system have reverberated throughout various disciplines and sectors, from direct care to admin istration and staffing to equipment manufacturing and support. In devel oping solutions to the major consider ations that remain, leaders are finding that some of their responses are im proving upon processes that long had gone unconsidered, or are otherwise reinventing or refining systems for a post- (or late-stage) pandemic reality.
“The first thing I think we have learned is that customers in the very beginning needed help, and it was very clear that we are in this togeth er,” said Murat Gungor, senior vice president of diagnostic imaging at Siemens Healthineers North America. “We realized we had to find a way to honor their requests for support because we’re partners, but it also made our customers strong partners with each other.”
What had begun as ways to drive efficiencies in response to tightening financial constraints became a lesson in risk diversification across the board, Gungor said. When supply chain issues presented a global challenge to various aspects of production, Sie
mens Healthineers found that its abil ity to source important components from a variety of suppliers across the planet yielded a resiliency that had gone unacknowledged previously. It also revealed the precariousness of potentially compromised elements of the production process from the customer perspective.
“The logistics-related pain shows itself in the continuum of the entire supply chain,” Gungor said. “It’s not just the front line of building a scanner because we’re missing a component; the pain continues until the last step. Creating an imaging suite, shielding it – all those steps have suffered, and they’re still not back to normal, although they are on the right track. Sometimes, customers could not find the resources to provide needed ser vices, such as contractors or riggers.”
“The lesson learned is that we need to think about the entire supply chain process so we can do those things for the customers,” he said. “We try to do more than we’re used to doing to help ensure that health care delivery doesn’t suffer.”
Similarly, Gungor said that the Great Resignation – the large-scale exodus of people from their longtime professions across all employment sectors – “pushed us to build different muscles in our organization that we didn’t even know existed.” In re sponse, Siemens Healthineers worked to bolster its imaging workforce appli cations and sourcing talent that could be schooled through a dedicated program to certify staff via the Amer ican College of Radiology (ACR). By leaning into its customers’ needs for skilled employees, Siemens Health ineers began to create on-demand teams that emerged as a flexible tech resource to help its customers extend and fill those gaps. It ended up being a successful business model. The
viability of that model has proven itself to be sustainable even beyond its initial stopgap applications, Gungor said.
“When some of our customers acquire an MR scanner or two, they also want to have the resources to manage them, and we provide those services now,” he said. “On the industry side, our role isn’t only building the box and installing the box, now it’s beyond into helping people run it and maintain it. The scope across medical imaging has grown over the last few years, and our organization is aligning to it.”
From front-line salespeople to the post-sales support, Gungor said the insti tutional approach at Siemens Health ineers has shifted to one of partnership married with enterprise solutions and after-sales support. To facilitate that enterprise, the business retained con sultants to evaluate its operations, and ended up discovering customers truly needed technicians and support staff on the back end of their purchases rather than installation and planning services up front.
“Getting into the services business definitely has been an interesting expe rience,” Gungor said. “Based on this, in the last two and a half years or so, we have signed many large partnerships, changing our identity in the market space. What was interesting was the prioritization: with all these troubles coming into the pandemic, people completely changed the way they look at their business.”
That top-down evaluative perspective led to clients reconsidering their patients’ direct experiences, from interactions with scheduling staff, to those in admis sions and administration, to clinicians and after-care navigation. What also became clear in the wake of those cal culations was that patients don’t need to meet their caregivers in person anymore, nor do they always need to travel to urban areas for care thanks to the rise of more rural facilities
“You have to have the flexibility to offer customers solutions that address these emerging trends,” Gungor said.
“You need to have a really diversified services offering that’s available regard less of the location of care delivery.”
Sharon Mohammed, assistant director of technical education at the Bellevue Hospital Center School of Radiologic Technology in New York, New York, said that the notion of manufacturers diver sifying their services offerings to better facilitate the needs of their customers also applies to changes in institutional perspectives around connecting with patients undergoing medical imaging services. In order to make up for patient volumes that were lost amid compulsory shutdowns during the heights of the pandemic, Mohammed suggested that radiology departments “want to super charge everything to make connections and to quickly build trust again.”
“Right now, we have to create a loyal ty to our brand,” she said. “People were afraid to come to the doctor, or afraid to come to the hospital [during the pandemic]. It has to be a retail-inspired relationship that we build. We need to understand the top drivers, the physi cian roles, and couple outreach with a personal touch.”
Part of rebuilding that customer connection involves improving and expanding patient safety measures, from basic cleaning and decontamination to ambulatory imaging made safer by social distancing measures. Shortening scanning protocols and decreasing the number of staff members who come into contact with patients not only limits exposure to infection risks, but supports optimization efficiency.
Beyond those safety and throughput improvements, Mohammed believes that patient relationships are also strength ened by adding personal touches to the mechanisms of digital outreach that also supplement in-person interac tions. Instead of simply communicating findings through typewritten reports, patients can now receive video reports created by their radiologists that emphasize the visibility of the clinician while also delivering a personalized summary of their results. Such endeav
ors go towards “repairing that human connection that was lost” during the pandemic, she said.
“It’s a whole different landscape now,” Mohammed said. “We need data capabilities to track patient engage ment and feedback. All incentives have to align with a patient-centric mindset, because that’s going to help them thrive in the future. All of those are partnerships with communication channels. Technologists and radiolo gists have to be engaged in that.”
But much like employers across every segment of the economy, medical imaging professionals have been no less deeply affected by staffing concerns that arose during the Great Resignation. Among the unanticipated consequences of that shortfall in personnel has been the emergence of what Mohammed described as “huge generational gaps in the workforce.” With some of the best professionals in the game poached by staffing companies and often assigned to temporary contracts scattered across a variety of institutions, recruitment and retention policies from tuition reimbursement to cash incentivization of long-term workers have become relied upon more broadly to keep professionals on the job.
“What is hurting us right now are these travel companies,” Mohammed said. “People don’t really have to commit to an institution. They’re being offered really high wages for 13 weeks, and then they can be on their way. New talent can simply jump on that. The whole landscape of health care has changed. We no longer have people working for 20 years in one place.”
As employers seek out ways to train and retain staff for the long term, Mohammed said they’re considering a variety of options, be they technologi cally based, or benefits based. She be lieves that flexible training and sched uling policies, such as technical night schools, which don’t currently exist for medical imaging careers, could be a strategy that might help develop new talent pipelines. But even once person
nel are hired, employers need to work to facilitate workplaces that alleviate stress and burnout, offer general recognition of effort, and devise benefits and incentives that are tailored to younger workers, be they tuition forgiveness, flexible scheduling, remote work opportunities, and the like.
“Hospital workplaces usually cater to mid-career or baby boomer workforce, but now they need to cater to younger workers,” Mohammed said. “It’s going to get worse because the population is aging and baby boomers are retiring, and there’s a need for care for more of these popula tions, which means more staff. I don’t think anyone’s really figured out the solutions. I’d like to acknowledge our students at Bellevue Hospital Center School of Ra diologic Technology for their dedication to providing high-quality patient care in a respectful and responsive way. They have demonstrated resilience, determination and commitment required to achieve results.”
Bradley Spieler, vice chair of scholarly activity and research and professor of clinical radiology at the LSU Health School of Medicine, echoed Mohammed’s remarks on the value of creating a workplace that caters to younger professionals, specifical ly in a hybrid format that offers onsite and remote workflow opportunities. Spiel er said he’s found those benefits to be particularly self-evident, particularly in an academic setting.
“I think people are realizing post-pan demic that this is a better way to do things,” he said. “We’re seeing that it allows for more time for teaching. People are getting less burned out because you’re able to do a lot of things now that you can do virtually.”
The utility of the hybrid, real-time, and virtual format also extends to meetings and interdisciplinary conferences. In the academ ic setting, it makes it easier to add granular ity to tumor boards that require radiology and pathology experts to be present. It’s also supported teleradiology positions and remote work opportunities, which are particularly necessary for responsi bilities that pivot among in-person and in-hospital environments.
“It’s been a huge benefit that everybody’s on board with us using Zoom and not neces sarily having to run from hospital to hospital and building to building,” Spieler said. “In terms of the virtual format, people are now more comfortable.”
That same comfort has been extended to employers in offering flexible work schedules that cater to the individual needs of employ ees. In a particularly competitive hiring envi ronment, workplace environment benefits help employers stand out to prospective staffers who might have their choice of places to land.
“I can’t tell you how many technologists have gone to part-time because they saw the benefit rather than the hindrance of it over the pandemic,” Spieler said. “We’re seeing more and more people wanting to go to that parttime format, and maybe stringing together a couple of different places rather than being in one place for the next 30 years.”
In academic institutions, the ability to go remote also supports the virtualization of things like the admissions process, helping promote inclusivity by supporting students and residents who would otherwise be limited by travel demands and the expenses of interviewing in person. For Spieler, it un derscored his own financial considerations at the time of his college search, which included taking out extra loans to travel to interviews across the United States.
“I think the level of additional comfort that people have with that virtual format is some thing that will carry forward,” he said.
Finally, one of the most seemingly ele mentary lasting cultural shifts that Spieler counts as being incorporated into routine practice since the pandemic is the one that has been the hardest to promote among the general populace: that of mask-wearing when sick and around patients. In a season where hospitals are being overwhelmed by not only COVID but influenza and RSV, the value of being masked “has heightened our thoughtfulness in patient care and being sanitary because we’ve seen what’s happened.”
“For me that’s a plus,” Spieler said. “There’s more self-awareness, and I think it’s increased our mindfulness.” •
Sharon Mohammed Bellevue Hospital Center Murat Gungor Siemens Healthineers North America Bradley Spieler LSU Health School of MedicineOn October 12, 2022, it was a thrill to meet and chat with Fei-Fei Li, the Sequoia Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University, Denning Co-Director, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. We met at the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee Meeting at Stanford University.
As I explained to my wife, Dr. Li belongs on the Mount Rushmore of thought leaders in the field of artificial intelligence. The “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights” was a hot topic of the meeting. Find out more at whitehouse.gov/ostp/ai-bill-of-rights.
Among the great challenges posed to democracy today is the use of technology, data and automat ed systems in ways that threaten the rights of the American public. Too often, these tools are used to limit our opportunities and prevent our access to critical resources or services. These problems are well documented. In America, and around the world, systems that are supposed to help with patient care have proven unsafe, ineffective or biased. Algorithms used in hiring and credit decisions have been found to reflect and reproduce existing unwanted inequities or embed new harmful bias and discrimination. Un checked social media data collection has been used to threaten people’s opportunities, undermine their privacy or pervasively track their activity — often without their knowledge or consent.
These outcomes are deeply harmful — but they are not inevitable. Automated systems have brought
about extraordinary benefits, from technology that helps farmers grow food more efficiently and com puters that predict storm paths, to algorithms that can identify diseases in patients. These tools now drive important decisions across sectors, while data is helping to revolutionize global industries. Fueled by the power of American innovation, these tools hold the potential to redefine every part of our society and make life better for everyone.
The White House Office of Science and Technol ogy Policy has identified five principles that should guide the design, use and deployment of automated systems to protect the American public in the age of artificial intelligence.
The “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights” is a guide for a society that protects all people from these threats — and uses technologies in ways that rein force our highest values. Responding to the expe riences of the American public, and informed by insights from researchers, technologists, advocates, journalists and policymakers, this framework is accompanied by “From Principles to Practice” — a handbook for anyone seeking to incorporate these protections into policy and practice, including de tailed steps toward actualizing these principles in the technological design process. These principles help provide guidance whenever automated systems can meaningfully impact the public’s rights, opportunities or access to critical needs. •
- Mark Watts is an experienced imaging professional who founded an AI company called Zenlike.ai.
How is it possibly December of 2022? Where did the year go?
In this column last December, I spoke of where we go from here and what 2022 would look like. What would we accomplish? How would we get where we want to be?
We have moved from pandemic to endemic. We tackled and conquered a global contrast shortage. We endured supply chain constraints, staffing challenges, recruitment difficulties, in flation and that never-ending stress that comes from trying to do too much with too little.
I mentioned that 2022 might be “the year of the tech.” While I am not sure that anyone has made that claim, imaging is more important than ever. There are new radiopharmaceuti cals, pre-surgical image guidance studies, new artificial intelligence opportunities and scanners that can process information more quickly than ever. But we still have the human element. Patients can only go so fast and so can our team members, for that matter. Fast is not the keyword; efficient is. Work smarter not harder. Just because we did things a certain way before does not mean we need to continue that way. Efficiency is the key.
Being efficient means that we have the time to listen to our patients tell their story. It may mean we have some extra time in our schedule to bring a patient in early or work someone in that showed up on the wrong day. It means that we have time to do all the tasks expected of us without the stress of trying to do too many things at one time.
In order to become the most efficient, we can break down each task into separate steps. We can identify what steps are redundant or not necessary, which can be combined, and prioritize the order in which steps should be completed.
I used to be a fan of letting people do things however they wanted to do them. I do not like to micromanage. We worked with Siemens on a project with a goal of making our MRI sched
uling, authorization and implant research more efficient. As an ice breaker for the group, the leaders asked us all to draw the profile of a pig. That was it, however you want to draw the pig. Some of the pigs we just the profile of the face, some included the entire body and two legs, some had all four legs, but no two were alike. We all interpreted the instruction differently.
For Step 2, we were given a piece of paper with lines dividing the paper into nine sections. There were specific instructions directing us what should go in each of those sections. Once complete, every pig drawn was similar. We all knew exactly what we were supposed to do efficiently and precisely, with no room for interpretation. This was a light bulb moment for me. When I give instruction, I know what I mean but the person receiving that instruction may interpret differently. This is where inefficiency and waste can come in.
By being clear and concise in our processes, we may find that we have time for the extras. Time to take care of our patients and take care of our team. We hear about time on team member stay interviews, our patient survey comments and in discussions with our vendors. We can’t go out and buy more time. We have to work smarter not harder so that we have time for the human element.
And now we have completed another trip around the sun. Time is precious. Let’s spend it on the good stuff and make the required stuff easy. I am looking forward to 2023 – my 40th year in imaging. I don’t believe it.
I have learned to adapt and change. I am still fascinated by something new every day. One thing has remained the same, and that is the fact that there is the same amount of time in each day. In order to make life easier for our pa tients and teams, let’s take the time to become efficient so we have a few minutes to enjoy each other. Thanks for all you do!
•
- Beth Allen, RT(R)(CT), CRA, is the director, clinical operations at Banner Imaging.
Wi th the holidays upon us, it’s common to hear that we should be of good cheer. With a strained economy and a tight labor force, I want to underscore the value of that mindset. If not for the general principle of a holiday spirit, then definitely for the integrity and strength of the organization.
If you’ve been in the workforce for any length of time. no doubt you’ve noticed a change. Workplaces aren’t only different from what they were 10 or 20 years ago, they’re also much different from what they were three years ago. Workers have adopted new ways of doing things, and every employee has thoughts and feelings about his or her workplace, including what’s needed to be successful. Not trying to understand those needs is a management mistake.
One thing that hasn’t changed is that most people who leave their employer don’t quit their jobs, they quit their boss. In other words, the most common reason people quit is they’re tired of dealing with someone who’s not doing what’s needed in the man agement role.
As an example of this, at a workshop I recently conducted for a small management team, one of the participants (let’s call him Bill) spoke about a work er who, when asked, did not know how to perform a certain procedure. Bill’s attitude shocked me. With mocking in his voice, he conveyed how he’d said to the worker, “If you don’t know how to do that, go find the manual and read about it.”
Bill then assigned blame to the worker as he told me that the next day the worker called in and quit. “He obviously couldn’t handle the job,” Bill said, “so I’m glad he left.”
I’m a firm believer that managers like Bill are obstacles on the road to the organization’s success. Mocking employees and expecting them to learn skills without guidance and support is a fast lane for
employees to find the exit door. Especially in a work world where just about every company has “now hir ing” signs up. My advice to Bill was for him to recon sider the value of each employee. Eventually, I con veyed to him, “Your company hired that guy because they saw something in him that showed promise. It’s the responsibility of a manager to become an expert about the people he or she manages, then create an atmosphere where each employee can bloom.”
Additionally, as the day progressed, I pointed out that a core responsibility of managers is to train employees to be more efficient in what they do. It’s something I’ve said for nearly 20 years. “When managers start to think and act like trainers, their workplace becomes the thriving hub of productivity it wants to be.”
A large obstacle there is helping managers learn how to train. Another one of my mantras is, “The ability to stand up and talk does not a trainer make.” Organizational leaders need to ensure managers are equipped with training skills. Too often I hear manag ers say, “Training is HR’s job, not mine.” Not true. A good manager learns how to transfer skills, and that includes the necessary knowledge, safety and quality issues needed to perform those skills.
Managers don’t need to become full-time trainers, but they need to be able to think and act like one.
Here are a few more management “do’s” to keep employees plugged in and productive:
• Seek to understand the perspectives of each person on your team . It is the responsibility of front-line employees to learn the nuances of the products and services their company provides and the processes that must be fol lowed to achieve the best possible end prod uct for the customer. Managers have different responsibilities. Managers must learn about the strengths and blind spots of everyone on their team. Managers operate at a different level in the organization, and therefore they must think
at a different level, too.
• Treat each employee with respect . Even the slightest mock or insult will leave a long-term scar. In some cases, like the one involving Bill as described above, an insulting or mock ing tone causes people to leave. The cost of replacing employees has always been high, and it’s not going down. Managers costs their companies lots of hidden dollars if they create unfavorable conditions and employees leave as a result.
• Mutually identify action steps for each employ ee to help them succeed. Mutual means that you both have input. A mindset exists in some that people don’t like change. All one needs to do is visit Lowe’s or Home Depot to see that people are actively participating in change –so long as they have a say in how that change happens. In the workplace, helping people develop skills involves change. Managers should converse with their team members to learn what additional skills they would like to acquire, then create a path for those things to happen. Again, this effort should have agree ment from both the manager and the team members.
• Follow-up on a regular basis to provide friend
ly advice or additional help. Don’t be like the guy who never told his wife he loved her. On their 20th anniversary, the woman said, “Why don’t you ever tell me that you love me?” The man responded, “I told you on the day we got married. If I change my mind, I’ll let you know.”
As I said, don’t be that guy. Employees, like pretty much all people, thrive on communication and feed back. Managers should provide guidance and assis tance to help their team members stay confident and on a track that benefits everyone.
I should point out that the items listed above are not suggestions. They are core responsibilities for being an effective manager. Wouldn’t it be nice if all managers did these things? If they did, it’s guaran teed that not only would more people stay with their job, but managers – and their companies – would be more successful along the way. •
- Daniel Bobinski, who has a doctorate in theology, is a best-selling author and a popular speaker at confer ences and retreats. For more than 30 years he’s been working with teams and individuals (1:1 coaching) to help them achieve excellence. He was also teaching Emotional Intelligence since before it was a thing. Reach him by email at DanielBobinski@protonmail. com or 208-375-7606.
The Association of Medical Service Providers (AMSP) is the premier national association of independent service and products providers to the health care technology industry. Our large pool of modality specialists provide for lower costs and higher quality services for our customers throughout the U.S. Learn more at www.amsp.net.
Afriend that I have known for over 10 years just had cataract surgery. They cut into the eye, liquify and suck out the lens and replace it. Piece of cake. No more corrective glasses needed which he wore all his remembered life. This not only changes his life, it also changed his face. He looks very unlike before which started me thinking about faces and how they affect how we view people.
I remember that I instantly liked him when we first met just based of his facial expression. As they say, whoever “They” is, first impressions are important, and you don’t get a second chance at a first impression. I would tell my imaging service students a long time ago that they should not disqualify themselves with their appearance. They would complain when I said they needed to dress well for service calls.
So, back to the faces. I began to explore why we form such apparently instant judgements based on people’s faces. There is much about this on the Internet and I am too lazy to read all the research so I will just do what I do: Make up my own stuff.
When we first see or meet anyone, we tend to instantly make a judgement regarding things like their attractive ness, intelligence, openness, health, friendliness, etc. We do this even of people in airports and restaurants. We do not need to actually meet anyone to begin putting them into their special cubbyholes.
Although we are told to look others in the eye and smile warmly when we first meet others, we take in an instant impression from the overall face. We immediately, and maybe unconsciously, make judgments. Do we like or dislike? Trust or not? These impressions influence the initial behavior we implement toward these people. It then becomes a progression of proving or disproving our initial impression. Have you ever been surprised that your first impression of someone was wrong?
Have you ever looked at someone and immediately
liked or disliked them? Does she resemble a favorite aunt or an unpleasant previous boss? We use information stored in memory as a short cut to making judgments about people and situations. Imagine if we had to re search and analyze every new encounter with people or situations. This would be extremely time consuming and exhausting. As humans, we must make assumptions even though they may not always be reasonable.
In the “Ladder of Inference,” postulated by psycholo gist Chris Argyris (Google it), he provides a format for the process we go through in arriving at conclusions and act ing upon them. Since we are always presented with such a large quantity of available and observable information, we must be selective of what we use. We may select the look of the eyes and the mouth or the entire shape of the face. We then project our own experiences onto that selected information.
We might think “She looks like Aunt Josie.” We then make a judgement that since she looks like Josie, and we love Josie because she is kind and good to us, this person must be someone we can also like. We have made an as sumption and conclusion and even acted on the informa tion we selected. The similarity in appearance of the faces is enough initially. Someone else observing and selecting the same information would probably come to a different conclusion based on her experiences. Initially, I like her and you don’t. With time you like her, and I don’t.
As for my friend, the surprise is that the lack of glasses changed his appearance from an analytical person to an extroverted person. I’m not changing my initial impression because that was replaced a long time ago by experience.
Regarding my face, if you knew me a long time ago when I was very good looking, you might be surprised by the addition of a few wrinkles. The wrinkles are a sign that I have become even better looking, however there was not enough room to get it all in without them. •
- Manny Roman, CRES, is association business operations manager at Association of Medical Service Providers.
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