The Miami Cancer Institute (MCI) started nearly 10 years ago as a collection of widely distributed service lines without an identifiable physical presence. The idea was to bring together local and regional cancer experts from every medical discipline and every support service. The vision was mass collaboration around providing world-class cancer care to patients from across the Southeastern U.S. as well as Latin America and the Caribbean.

Natural language processing (NLP)—the concept of training computer programs to extract specific content from words and phrases—has existed in one form or another since the 1950s, but its potential to impact radiology has only been brought into focus in recent years. Vendors all over the world, including vRad, a MEDNAX company, are working around the clock to see just how much NLP can do to revolutionize healthcare—and they are finding that it can do quite a lot.

Today’s radiology leaders face a significant number of challenges, including complex reimbursement policies, evolving technologies, and increasing demands for 24/7 subspecialty care. MEDNAX Radiology Solutions hosted a webinar on Feb. 21, 2018, that focused on these challenges and what leaders can do to ensure their practices thrive in today’s growing, competitive marketplace.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning technologies were the talk of RSNA 2017 in Chicago. More than 70 sessions were devoted to AI, and you couldn’t walk ten feet without reading or hearing the words “machine learning” or “algorithm.” 

Heading into the economically and politically turbulent year that 2018 is sure to be, radiology practices need all the navigational help they can get if they want to not only survive, but thrive in these uncertain times. In-depth assists are available, for free, from vRad for those dealing with staffing shortages, data security concerns, final-read demands and overall practice-performance issues. Here are descriptions and links to online resources that will help practice leaders navigate the course to becoming a high performance radiology practice.

Look to RSNA 2017 for hints on what to prepare for in 2018 and you may take some comfort in the familiar: The profession-wide challenges and opportunities that were common across radiology over the past year aren’t clearing out to make room for entirely new concerns and changes. However, you’ll also need to reckon with the reality of ever-advancing—and in many areas, only accelerating—change.

Hurricane Harvey, one of the most devastating storms in U.S. history, hit Texas in August 2017, leaving entire neighborhoods underwater and doing billions of dollars in damage. On Friday, August 25, the storm was heading straight for the coastal city of Corpus Christi, Texas, until weather patterns shifted at the last minute.

In healthcare, as in life, relationships evolve over time. Take, for instance, Atlantic Radiology Associates (ARA) in Savannah, Ga., a 12-radiologist group serving hospitals throughout Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. ARA first started working with vRad, the country’s largest teleradiology provider, back in 2007, with vRad handling preliminary weekend and overnight reads for one of the group’s busiest hospitals.