Dear Healthcare Informatics Insider,
Old radiology reports contain much data that could yield valuable insights from big data-style analysis. However, most of these reports are still produced in the traditional free-text format, which is difficult to analyze by computers.
Widespread adoption of structured reporting could change that dynamic. In a presentation at the recent RSNA 2015 meeting, a German team shared how structured reports enabled real-time calculation and analysis of epidemiological statistics from more than 500 prior studies. Click here to learn more.
In other articles this month in our Healthcare Informatics Community, learn how the ever-increasing challenge of cybersecurity is being addressed in new European Union-wide legislation recently agreed upon by the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Luxembourg Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers. Click here to read more.
For many, retirement can mean leaving behind your professional life and pursuing long-neglected leisure activities like world travel and golf. U.K. radiologist Dr. Richard Harries, however, has successfully transitioned from a full-time consultant radiologist role in the National Health Service (NHS) to a part-time position reporting from home for his hospital. Both parties have benefitted from the arrangement, according to our report by staff writer Frances Rylands-Monk. Click here to learn more.
Of course, home reporting comes with its challenges, as highlighted in a recent guidance document from the U.K. Royal College of Radiologists (RCR). For example, it can lead to a shift of resources away from radiology departments and encourage less contact with colleagues and even de-skilling of radiologists, according to the RCR. Learn what procedures and checks should be followed for home reporting by visiting here.
The NHS is currently working to develop an enterprise-wide imaging strategy, which may help address the significant challenges facing U.K. radiology, according to a column by contributor Warren Edwards of RIS/PACS vendor McKesson. Learn more by clicking here.
If you have any tips or suggestions for topics you'd like to see covered in the Healthcare Informatics Community, please feel free to drop me a line.
