Four ways technology is making imaging quality equal value

Recently, I spoke to imaging leaders from academia, industry and government at a meeting of the International Society for Strategic Studies in Radiology. We agreed we’re all striving for higher quality imaging. But radiology is also expected to deliver higher value imaging. My presentation sought to answer the question, “What constitutes higher value in clinical care – and how can technology help us achieve both quality and value?”

I believe that to achieve higher value in clinical care we need to align technology advances with the goals of what we call the Quadruple Aim: improve health outcomes, lower the cost of providing care, enhance the patient experience and improve the care provider experience. Here are four ways such aligned advances are helping radiology elevate both quality and value.

Improve health outcomes: better image interpretation

Radiologists face significant challenges in interpreting images and getting to a confident diagnosis – starting with the sheer number of facts they need to consider in every clinical decision. Enhancing visualization is one way radiology is moving toward precision diagnosis. Hospitals are using CT systems that feature advanced dual-energy spectral detector-based data acquisition and reduced contrast that can result in fewer indeterminate findings and better tissue visualization. The technology also eliminates the need for upfront pre-scan spectral mode decision-making, allowing anatomical structures to be viewed and material composition identified simultaneously. In-depth spectral information is available on demand and for retrospective analysis.

Lower the cost of providing care: virtual radiology

Virtual radiology has huge potential to transform healthcare by providing more access to services and medical expertise in underserved areas around the world, but the operational structure and workflow support needs to be in place to facilitate it. To develop a remote medical imaging solution, three levels of technology are essential from the top down: a supportive diagnostic clinical service; a health information exchange capability; and an image data storage and management platform. The technology behind the platform can be customized to suit several different radiological service models:

• It can be used in tiered hospital alliances to make medical images and clinical applications available at all levels;
• It can be used by national medical centers to provide disease-specific radiology services; or
• It can be used to create commercial on-demand doctors’ group services to which individual hospitals can subscribe. 

In addition, new performance management software and services are supporting radiology department administrators in prioritizing operational improvements in areas like asset management, equipment uptime and utilization, peer-to-peer collaboration, accreditation compliance and practice management. Clinicians can access near real-time data on departmental performance through interactive dashboards and view unified information across different imaging modalities.

Enhance patient experience: first time right

A 2018 Bayer international radiology patient survey reported that, “More than half of patients experience anxiety when undergoing diagnostic imaging procedures.” Last year, Philips conducted our own patient satisfaction survey of more than 600 patients in the U.S. and Germany about their satisfaction, expectations, preferences and unmet needs with diagnostic imaging procedures. Respondents identified one was to reduce their stress was to get the image right the first time. Imaging suites are now adopting immersive experiences that reduce patient stress through engaging visuals and calming sounds that provide positive distraction and significantly reduce re-scans. In addition, a new clinical MR application that can be used in all anatomical contrasts and all anatomies enables 2D and 3D scans to be conducted up to 50 percent faster with virtually equal image quality.

Improve the care provider experience: improve workflow

Radiology innovation is improving the care provider experience by introducing automation, smart interfaces and adaptive intelligence applications that can enable faster exam times and smoother workflow. For example, clinicians can now preselect protocols that facilitate proper setup and administration of scans to reduce clinical variation and support efficient image acquisition. New patient sensing technology and analytics enable streamlined planning, scanning and processing of MR exams and provide for automated breathing detection without accessories or manual adjustments – both of which can increase workflow and thereby reduce care provider stress.

As we go forward, it will become even more important for radiologic quality to equal value. Radiologists need to make this intentional and not just a happy coincidence. Technology can enable both, but healthcare providers must embrace new ways of working that require investment in change management. Their industry partners must focus their R&D on developing technologies that help achieve the Quadruple Aim. Ultimately, all of us must use technology advances to move toward precision diagnosis by turning data into actionable insights – getting the right treatment to the right patient at the right time. Now that’s value.