RSNA 2024: Trends and Takeaways

The future of medical image exchange and takeaways from RSNA 2024

From December 1-4, I had the pleasure of attending the 2024 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Annual Meeting in Chicago. With over 30,000 healthcare professionals and industry leaders in attendance, this year’s conference was an unforgettable experience. I enjoyed connecting with our provider partners and engaging in insightful conversations with industry experts.

The major themes that stood out this year included:

In this recap, I’ll explore the trends and share key takeaways from the conference.

Building stronger relationships with patients and referring physicians

Engaging both patients and referring physicians is key to improving healthcare outcomes and the electronic medical record (EMR) can be a powerful tool in this process. The RSNA 2024 session on Accelerating Patient Care Through the Electronic Medical Record explored how EMR can be leveraged to improve care delivery through better provider collaboration and patient engagement.

During the session, presenters explored how electronic medical record tools can be used to foster peer learning in clinical settings. They also examined how EMR data can increase cancer screening rates and improve patient outcomes.

Building on this engagement theme, PocketHealth hosted a Lunch and Learn session at RSNA 2024 on Achieving Seamless Image Exchange and Intelligent Patient Engagement. This session focused on the solutions radiology leaders are using to overcome interoperability challenges, streamline workflows and improve patient engagement.

I had the pleasure of moderating this session, where expert panelists explained how seamless image exchange and intelligent patient engagement solutions can help solve these challenges. Panelists included:

• Seetharam (Ram) Chadalavada, MD, MS, CIIP, Vice Chair of Radiology – Informatics at UC Health and Chief Medical Officer, PocketHealth
• Stacie Barnard – Director, Enterprise Imaging Informatics & Integrated Clinical Systems, University of Rochester Medical Center
• Fernando Martín – Sr. Director Architecture, DevOps and AI Technologies, WellSpan Health

Along with moderating the panel, I had the opportunity to present at the RSNA Innovation Theater. I discussed how PocketHealth helps healthcare organizations reduce costs, improve efficiency and address gaps in patient care.

Leveraging AI to improve patient care and simplify workflows

A key theme at the RSNA conference was integrating AI into clinical practice to improve productivity, diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes.

During his address to attendees, RSNA President Curtis Langlotz, MD, PhD, emphasized AI’s importance, stating, “AI will not replace radiologists, but radiologists who use AI will replace those who do not use AI.”

One session that highlighted this theme was The Risks and Opportunities of Radiology AI. This presentation explored how AI tools are transforming diagnostic imaging by increasing precision and productivity. The discussion covered the changes needed for AI to realize its full potential in radiology, including improving accuracy and efficiency.

Ethical implications of AI was another main topic at RSNA. In Emerging Topics in AI: Trustworthiness, Safety, Ethics, and Bias, attendees learned the importance of mitigating bias, ensuring safety and building trust with clinicians and patients.

PocketHealth features like Organ Visualization and Ask My Doctor use AI to improve patient satisfaction and engagement. Organ Visualization provides an interactive view of radiology results, helping patients understand their imaging, while Ask My Doctor suggests relevant questions for patients to discuss with their providers based on report findings. These AI-driven tools engage and educate patients about their health, which leads to improved patient experience and safety.

AI also supports follow-up management through PocketHealth’s Follow-Up Navigator, which detects and customizes follow-up recommendations based on clinical guidelines. This ensures patients do not miss critical appointments while closing the communication loop between patients, physicians and radiologists. By minimizing clerical intervention and streamlining workflows, these features free up time for healthcare staff to focus on patient care. This creates operational efficiency and better patient experience, leading to higher retention rates and a positive impact on revenue over time.

Creating efficiencies to combat rising costs and staff burnout

Several sessions addressed rising costs, staffing shortages and increasing radiologist burnout and offered ways to combat healthcare systems’ financial challenges.

In the session The ROI of AI, participants examined the financial benefits of AI in radiology. Attendees discussed the infrastructure and workflows necessary for successful AI adoption and learned the importance of ROI from a patient, provider and enterprise perspective.

Another session, Economics of Imaging, examined financial challenges in diagnostic imaging. Attendees discussed the impact of workforce challenges, reimbursement pressures and delayed capital investments. The session emphasized the importance of forecasting and analyzing trends to improve costs.

PocketHealth generates savings by eliminating manual image exchange workflows and automating important patient communication. It facilitates seamless, cloud-based image transfers, automates retrieval workflows and integrates securely with PACS, RIS, and EHR systems. By eliminating the need for CDs, PocketHealth cuts costs related to purchasing, shipping, and distribution. This leads to reduced operating costs, improved efficiency and allows staff to focus on higher-value tasks.

RSNA 2024 offered valuable insights into the future of radiology and healthcare technology. It was a fantastic opportunity to connect with industry leaders, exchange knowledge and witness firsthand how technological advancements are driving change in the field.

Ready to drive patient engagement and simplify radiology workflows? Book a demo to learn how PocketHealth can help.