As diagnostic imaging becomes a more prevalent tool in medicine, radiologists must increasingly be concerned with resource management. Wait times represent an important quality of care issue in medicine, especially in Canada, where the number of MRI and CT scanners is limited compared to other countries. Longer wait times have been shown to worsen medical outcomes in a number of different settings, including head and neck cancers, as well as costing patients emotional and financial resources. Accordingly, a number of strategies have been undertaken to reduce waiting times. Teleradiology, which is the assignment of diagnostic interpretation of images to distant radiologists, has worked in the context of reduced staff radiologists in PEI. There may also be a role for encouraging only appropriate indications for imaging. In conclusion, the authors suggest that good radiologic practice consists of considering appropriate use of diagnostic imaging to reduce wait times.

The threat of pandemic is looming in the public consciousness. Outbreaks of infectious diseases are tracked in order to respond to and prevent epidemics. Historically, both passive and active methods have been used. A promising development is to use social media, such as Twitter or Google, to track and predict outbreaks. Active monitoring consists of reporting and collection of health information, while passive monitoring involves studying data from clinicians to infer if an infectious outbreak has occurred. Social media provides a wealth of information to analyze outbreaks. By studying keywords searched on Google, researchers were able to predict outbreaks 1 to 2 weeks earlier than traditional methods used by the Centers for Disease Control.