Health Imaging & IT - October 2007 - (Page 60) ct in the imaging center 3D volume rendered images created from Toshiba Aquilion 64-slice CT scanner. On the left, the scan shows a total hip replacement with a new artificial head of the femur and acetabulum, and on the right, small metastatic lesions are seen in the lungs. This also means that unless clinicians are going to do cardiac imaging, they do not need a 64-slice scanner, Winkler says. “People are spending too much on technology when there’s effectively no difference. A high-quality 16-slice machine is more than adequate for everything but cardiac work.” Simplicity is sophisticated technology, as dedicated to quality of care as you are. Philips SpeechMagic™provides industrial grade speech recognition and advanced document creation features which integrate seamlessly with your EMR and HIS. Reliable capture, easy access and instant sharing of patient information allow physicians to focus on high quality of care. on the horizon In the future, almost all outpatient CTs will be performed in an outpatient environment, says Winkler. “Outpatient centers are aesthetically more attractive. Patients can get in and out much faster.” Muhr agrees and says the growth in imaging centers and CT in the imaging center marketplace will be “driven by patient desire for comfort and convenience.” Port says payors will eventually realize that they’ll save money by covering CT scanning in outpatient centers instead of hospitals. “Within the next five years, [cardiac CT studies] will be covered,” he says. “They’re valuable studies. If you look nationwide right now, you can safely say that 20 to 35 percent of catheterization lab volumes represent people with normal coronary arteries.” A percentage on top of that includes people who don’t have bad enough disease to warrant an intervention. The actual volume of patients that need to be in the cath lab for coronary purposes is probably less than half of those patients who walk through the door. “It wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that at least 40 to 50 percent don’t have any coronary disease or don’t have it to the degree that warrants an intervention,” Port says. Payors are paying more for same-day surgery suites, cath lab room charges and labor than they would for outpatient CT angiography. “If we could make a dent in that difference,” says Port, “we could save payors a huge amount of money. I think the payors are going to wake up to that as long as we deliver.” HealthImaging.com www.philips.com/speechrecognition 60 O C T O B E R 2 0 07 | Health Imaging & IT http://www.philips.com/speechrecognition http://HealthImaging.com
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