Integrated diagnostics: proceedings from the 9th biennial symposium of the International Society for Strategic Studies in Radiology

Abstract

The International Society for Strategic Studies in Radiology held its 9th biennial meeting in August 2011. The focus of the programme was integrated diagnostics and massive computing. Participants discussed the opportunities, challenges, and consequences for the discipline of radiology that will likely arise from the integration of diagnostic technologies. Diagnostic technologies are increasing in scope, including advanced imaging techniques, new molecular imaging agents, and sophisticated point-of-use devices. Advanced information technology (IT), which is increasingly influencing the practice of medicine, will aid clinical communication and the development of “population images” that represent the phenotype of particular diseases, which will aid the development of diagnostic algorithms. Integrated diagnostics offer increased operational efficiency and benefits to patients through quicker and more accurate diagnoses. As physicians with the most expertise in IT, radiologists are well placed to take the lead in introducing IT solutions and cloud computing to promote integrated diagnostics. To achieve this, radiologists must adapt to include quantitative data on biomarkers in their reports. Radiologists must also increase their role as participating physicians, collaborating with other medical specialties, not only to avoid being sidelined by other specialties but also to better prepare as leaders in the selection and sequence of diagnostic procedures.Key Points• New diagnostic technologies are yielding unprecedented amounts of diagnostic information.• Advanced IT/cloud computing will aid integration and analysis of diagnostic data.• Better diagnostic algorithms will lead to faster diagnosis and more rapid treatment.

External Factors That Influence the Practice of Radiology: Proceedings of the International Society for Strategic Studies in Radiology Meeting

“…By showing drug effectiveness-or the lack thereof-early on in clinical trials, imaging can speed up and reduce the costs of bringing new drugs to market and prevent patients from undergoing inappropriate treatments (58). Finally, the development of integrated diagnostics offers yet another opportunity for radiology to play a central role in enhancing the value of imaging (37). If it develops its strengths in these emerging areas, the imaging community will take on an even more integral and visible role in the delivery of high-quality health care.…”

“…Radiologists may be able to maximize both the value they bring to their organizations and, in the future, their merit-based pay by setting and reaching high performance standards for critical results reporting, turnaround time, creation of structured reports that are decisive and effective, participation in data registries, and recall and biopsy positivity rates in areas such as breast imaging. On a larger scale, integrated diagnostic services have been proposed as a means for radiologists to expand their leadership in bringing efficiency and value across health system diagnostics (37).…”

Integrated Diagnostics: The Computational Revolution Catalyzing Cross-disciplinary Practices in Radiology, Pathology, and Genomics

“…Krestin et al (5) argue that this role is suitable for the radiologist, initially for the benefit of the patient and ultimately for the benefit of radiology as a specialty. To that, we would add that teamwork among diagnosticians would be essential, because of the…”

Summary of the 4th Nordic Symposium on Digital Pathology

“…Such proposals have been voiced over the years[45] and appear to be gaining traction in the respective communities, likely fueled by the increasing possibilities arising when pathologists also work in a primarily digital environment. To the end of forming a baseline, the survey asked pathologists, “How often do you have direct interaction with a radiologist regarding a patient case?” Figure 4 shows the results, painting the picture that multidisciplinary team meetings are where the interaction primarily happens but also that the direct interaction overall is low.…”