Posted By: Jane Kollmer

Well, today is Wednesday, Day 4 of the Radiological Society of North America's annual meeting, and while I'm back at rt image headquarters already, staff writer Bob Stott is still there, gathering news and information from the radiology industry up until the minute McCormick Place clears out.

Word on the RSNA floor was that attendance is down this year, but I couldn't tell, based on the hordes of people through which I had to weave in and out.

In a nutshell, this year's meeting seemed to be another success, especially with RSNA's new initiatives to expand attendees' experience. From an editorial standpoint, we at rt image had no problem finding new article ideas and getting a sense of the trends that are currently taking place in radiology. It's very exciting to get up close and personal with the people and technology that are shaping the field. We were also very happy to connect with our readers from our own booth in the North Hall and learn what they think of the magazine.

Now that the show's almost over, we're working hard to bring you Monday's issue, which will contain a recap of RSNA 2008. We will feature news, announcements, photos, and Webcasts from the event. Stay tuned as we bring you more RSNA coverage!

Posted By: Jane Kollmer

***DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO NOVEMBER 24***

Here are the details.

This is your chance to reveal your knowledge of radiology. Your article could be featured in rt image and read by diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy professionals across the nation.

Writing will be judged on organization skills, originality, content, and informational appeal.

A cash prize will be awarded to the top two entries: • First Place $350 • Second Place $250

* Papers submitted may be created especially for the occasion or based on previously unpublished works prepared for conference/seminar presentations during the past 12 months. Possible topics include new technologies, patient relations, job fulfillment, workplace issues, imaging techniques, current profession issues, education, and administration.

* Manuscripts submitted for this competition should be between 1,200 and 2,200 words in length, typed on one side of the paper. Manuscripts that exceed the 2,200-word limit will be disqualified. References and sources should be cited using AMA style.

* Submit the manuscript with a separate cover sheet bearing your name, address and telephone number (day and evening), e-mail, a disclaimer stating the article is your original work and a brief biography (education and employment).

* The author's name and any identifying marks must not appear on the body of the manuscript.

* All entries become the property of rt image and its publisher, Valley Forge Publishing Group.

Deadline for submission is November 24, 2008. E-mail to: editorial@rt-image.com, or mail entries to: rt image, Attn: Jane Kollmer, 2570 Boulevard of the Generals, Suite 220, Norristown, PA 19403.

Questions? Call the rt image editorial department at 800-983-7737.

Posted By: Jane Kollmer

They don't call it radiology's biggest tradeshow for nothing. RSNA is huge. More than huge – it's enormous. But don't be alarmed – the intention of this blog entry is not to intimidate or overwhelm you – it's to impart some of the knowledge I've gained from the past three years of attending RSNA. Many are lessons I learned the hard way. Follow these basic tenets of survival, and you will be an RSNA regular in no time.

Be prepared for Chicago's wintry weather. Chicago at the end of November is cold, especially at McCormick Place, which sits on the shores of Lake Michigan. In other words, don't pack your Hawaiian shirt. Instead, bring along a winter coat, scarf, some gloves, hat, and anything that will protect you from the Windy City's harsh elements. You may want to dress in layers so that you can strip down once you get to the show. RSNA provides a coat check at the main entrances, so be sure to take advantage of it so you're not stuck lugging around a bulky coat. Another word to the wise would be to allow plenty of time to get to the airport. (One year, I barely made it out of Chicago before being stranded by a blizzard.)

Wear comfortable shoes. You have a lot of ground to cover. With this year's exhibits being expanded to include a third hall, there is more to see. The best advice I can give is to travel light and choose your footwear carefully. Otherwise, you'll be barely limping around McCormick Place with aching feet complete with excruciatingly painful blisters. This one I know from experience, unfortunately.

You are who your badge says. People will stare at your badge, so get used to it. They're not being rude – they just want to know who you are and where you're from. Don't forget to wear your badge during the whole show, either. It's the only way you can be quickly identified as an attendee or exhibitor and not some random person who wandered in from the streets. Once you have no more use for your badge at the end of the show, deposit it in one of the recycling bins provided by RSNA.

Move fast or be trampled. As captivating as the educational sessions and exhibits are, once 5 p.m. strikes, it's a mad dash to get a bus, cab, or find any way out of McCormick Place. It reminds me of a scene from that movie, Rat Race. It's almost a stampede. I would recommend that you learn to walk at a brisk pace, or at least twice as fast as you normally walk. My advice would be to go with the flow and travel in the direction the crowd is going. Otherwise you'll be swept up in the current or, worse yet, run the risk of becoming radiology roadkill. Again, I can't stress enough the importance of comfortable footwear. A sprained ankle will do you no good at RSNA. (But should you find yourself in need of medical attention, there is a first aid station at McCormick Place. I know firsthand because I got aspirin there one time.)

Keep hydrated. Much like the mall during Christmas shopping season, McCormick Place has a tendency to cause what I like to call the "desert mouth" effect. Maybe it's because we're all walking around the exhibit hall, looking at all of the new products with our mouths open that we forget to breathe through our nose. Or, maybe we're still feeling the effects of a few too many cocktails at the previous night's party. Whatever the case, I can almost guarantee you'll be parched, especially if you've had to travel on a long flight. To slake this powerful thirst, I suggest carrying bottles of water or making frequent trips to the public drinking fountains. But forget about Starbucks – that line is too long!

Lastly, it's important to remember to smile like you mean it. After all, you're at a show that connects radiology professionals from around the world. I'm sure, like me, you'll find RSNA an exciting time to be in the presence of radiology's brightest and most innovative minds. Even as travel budgets shrink, we all know that RSNA's yearly meeting is not a show anyone can afford to miss.

Good luck! If you plan to attend, please stop by rt image's booth 9506 in Hall B of the North Building. If you have your own secrets to survival, please share them by posting a comment to this blog.

Posted By: Jane Kollmer

Healthcare is not too different from other jobs in that you come to work every day and are around the same people - people who become a lot like a family. In fact, you probably see them more than your family. (Scary, but it's true.)

If you've worked somewhere long enough, you may even have that person who is beyond family status - someone known as a "work spouse." If you have one, you already know what I'm talking about. For those of you who don't know, work spouses are people who are codependent of each other in the workplace.

You can count on your work spouse to cover your shift while you're on vacation, go with you to get lunch, remind you of your doctor's appointments, and put up with you when you're in a bad mood. They're the only person who can rationalize with you when you're ready to throw in the towel, and they're the first person to congratulate you when something goes right in your life.

But watch out, because work spouses will take out their anger and stress on each other, and they feel safe doing this because work-spouse love is unconditional.

Work spouses know what you're thinking at all times. They can anticipate how you will react in any given situation. You might fight and bicker constantly (much to the chagrin of the other employees who have to be around during your platonic "lovers' quarrels"), but it's only because you know each other so well.

You're as close as conjoined twins, and people usually confuse your names, since you both sort of merge into one person. In extreme cases, work spouses begin to look like one other. There's not many relationships out there that can compete with the cement-like bonds of workplace matrimony.

So, it makes sense when I read the results from a CareerBuilder.com survey that report actual spouses often feel threatened by their partner's work spouse relationship.

The study reports that one-in-10 (11 percent) workers said they feel like they have a work spouse (someone who they are not married to, but feel like they are married to at the office).

Among these workers who are married, 20 percent reported that their actual spouse or significant other gets jealous of their platonic work spouse and another 17 percent said they had to compromise something at the office to protect their work spouse.

Personally, I can easily see why the green-eyed monster rears its ugly head. Besides the considerable amount of time they spend side-by-side, work spouses offer each other a sympathetic ear, someone to vent to when they need to let off steam. At-home spouses, as supportive as they may be, can't be expected to always understand the daily frustrations of a job.

But, before any begrudged spouses head for the divorce court, they should realize that a job is a job and life outside of work is just that - outside of work.

For fun, here is a list of everyone's favorite platonic TV work couples: 1. Regis and Kelly 2. David Letterman and Paul Shaffer 3. Jay Leno and Kevin Eubanks 4. Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer 5. Howard Stern and Robin Quivers 6. Judge Judy and Petri Byrd 7. Conan O'Brien and Max Weinberg 8. The Ladies of The View 9. Diane Sawyer and Chris Cuomo 10. Jimmy Kimmel and Guillermo Diaz 11. Harry Smith and Julie Chen 12. Billy Bush and Nancy O'Dell

(Source: CareerBuilder.com)

Posted By: Jane Kollmer

With breast cancer awareness month upon us, the ubiquitous pink ribbon serves as a reminder to women everywhere that early detection is key to preventing breast cancer. Now, more than ever, women have a fighting chance to beat breast cancer. With so many new modalities, surgeries, and treatments available, woman have more choices when it comes to the decision they must make after learning about their diagnosis. As we learn more about genetics, too, we get closer to identifying which women are at high risk and should be closely monitored. A breast cancer diagnosis does not have to be an automatic death sentence.

However, there are, unfortunately, still many women who "fall through the cracks" and may not reap the benefits of all of the available treatment options. Why are some women surviving longer than others? One reason may be that breast cancer patient long-term survival depends greatly on where the patient seeks treatment, and a new study published in the Annal of Surgery points to academic medical centers as having the best results. Community hospitals seem to have the worst outcomes, and researchers speculate that it's because these hospitals are not taking full advantage of life-extending treatments. On the other hand, teaching hospitals, which are usually affiliated with medical schools, see a higher volume of patients and have more resources and manpower than their community hospital counterparts.

The researchers report that there was not much of a difference in the treatment of early breast cancer, but in advanced stage breast cancer, it seems the community hospitals were not including enough adjuvant therapies in their patients' overall cancer care. Therefore, long-term survival rates were lower for these patients. The study's findings, which are based on cancer surveillance data kept by the state of Florida, are not clear as to why adjuvant therapies are missing these patients. They speculate that in community hospitals, the therapies are not offered, or if they are offered, they're not pushed by the doctors. It is also possible that the patients refuse these treatments. Whatever the case may be, these patients are losing out on therapies that can extend or even save their lives.

The researchers conclude that all of those individuals responsible for the patients' care - radiologists, oncologists, and surgeons - should be making sure that each breast cancer patient is counseled with all of her options so she can make an informed decision.

Do you agree with these findings? What do you think community hospitals should be doing differently to take better care of breast cancer patients?

Posted by: Jane Kollmer

For our brand new Most Valuable Products/Services (MVP) issue, we're leaving the decision-making to you: the experts. From your responses, we're developing a repertoire of products that – through their innovation, practicality, and usefulness in the field – have had the greatest influence on today's radiology profession. Let your voice be heard - vote for your favorite products/services and we will include your choices in our October 6 issue. By voting, you enter the chance to win a $50.00 Visa Giftcard. Voting ends on September 29.

Click on this link to take you to the list of categories and nominations.

Technorati Profile

Posted By: Jane Kollmer

By now I'm sure many of you have seen this week's "Most Influential in Radiology" issue. We're very proud to present this year's list of people who are making things happen in radiology. Unfortunately, we were limited to a certain amount of space, so what we included in the print issue had to be kept on the shorter side.

But since we have this handy-dandy blog, I figured I would give you all a little "behind-the-scenes" scoop on one of the Most Influential honorees - Dr. J. Martin Pfaff, or "Marty," as he is more commonly known. With such a rich background in PACS, I felt like his story warranted further explanation on our Web site. His stories about the early days of PACS are truly entertaining. PACS has come a long way, it seems!

So, sit back, relax, and read about Marty Pfaff, who I had the pleasure of meeting in person at SIIM. At the end of this passage, be sure to follow the link to a Webcast featuring Marty so you can see him in action. On another note, I'll be going on vacation to sunny Florida for the next few days, so I leave the magazine in the able hands of the remaining staff.

J. Martin Pfaff, PhD, has a history which traces itself to the dawn of the PACS technology era. Dr. Pfaff completed his Stanford education and enrolled in the Medical Physics Graduate program at UCLA. He began his career in medical imaging at UCLA, where his position as a research scientist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center helped forge his experience in image processing.

Dr. Pfaff developed early image processing techniques to determine the morphological characteristics of coronary arteries using early digital subtraction angiography systems. At that time, the power of the computers used was barely more than today's hand-held calculators. He recalls when ADAC provided their research department with the first IBM Gigabyte disk, a 4 foot cube with a startup protocol rivaling NASA's shuttle launch sequence! During this time, Dr. Pfaff formed his early friendships with other pioneers of medical imaging, and forged his passion for this field. Being one of the first to see the images from early MR phase-contrast pulse sequences and the clinical impact that Maximum Intensity Projection (MIP) image processing had on MR angiography inspired him to architect his early Rational Imaging PACS system.

Dr. Pfaff recalls that radiologists resisted PACS at first, complaining about reliability and the fact that digital reading was slower than film at that time. But, radiologists endured in the hopes of reducing film costs, improving service for the referral base and providing more personalized service. Dr. Pfaff has vivid memories of the early teleradiology systems, which were mere "cameras-on-a-stick" focused on a viewbox. This, combined with modem delivery of lossy, compressed, JPEG images, were largely only good for "wet" reads, and interpretation would have to wait until the following day. With improvements in computer technology, networks and software design, PACS evolved to dedicated reading stations, enterprise image distribution and workflow enabled systems.

In his Rational Imaging PACS, Dr. Pfaff pioneered many of the capabilities now available across the industry, including anatomic grouping, dynamic cross referencing, stacked image displays with mouse scroll, user-configurable hanging protocols, paper-film, key-image summaries and anatomic triangulation using a distributed architecture with image manager coordination. Early in Rational Imaging's development, Canon carried his product. "A sales representative at GE introduced me to an executive at Canon", remembers Pfaff, "Canon was trying to get UCLA to develop medical imaging using the Canon printer, and thus, the partnership began." At the time, Pfaff was working for Tower Imaging in Los Angeles, CA, developing teleradiology applications to help them cover remote hospitals. "The Canon printer was under-utilized at UCLA," recalls Dr. Pfaff, "with most of us using it to copy wedding pictures!"

This partnership helped Canon enter another vertical market; increase sales of high-end color printers and helped establish a customer base for its DX entry into the market. When Canon decided to exit the PACS industry, Dr. Pfaff continued his passion as an independent company, Intuitive Imaging Informatics, LLC. "This gave us direct contact with the customer base," Pfaff elaborates, "allowing us to provide the highest level of customer service." Though working in a smaller, independent company has its advantages, buying organizations for hospitals sometimes make it difficult for smaller companies to bid on technology.

The early days of PACS were fraught with obstacles; some not exactly necessary... "Our system went down during the night coverage three days a week, and we could never figure out why," Pfaff muses, "then, one night I stayed late, and discovered that the janitor would remove the power for the server to plug in his vacuum!" Even the early trade shows bring back memories. "At the first RSNA, there were less than 5 PACS companies involved," Pfaff reminisces, "today, 50% of the booths offer some sort of image display capability."

"It is very gratifying to watch and contribute to the evolution of Radiology practice over the years," says Pfaff. "Twenty years ago, radiologists worked in dark reading rooms, covering only the nearby community; they also had to cover all modalities, since specialization wasn't always economically feasible. Radiologists began using PACS to expand territories and cover remote facilities, leading to specialization and an increase in the quality of care." In a business where sites frequently change PACS vendors every 3 to 4 years, Pfaff is proud that he has customers that are celebrating their 15th consecutive year with his technology! Dr. Pfaff is happy that he played -- and continues to play -- an important role in PACS innovation and development.

Webcast

Posted By: Jane Kollmer

Life would be very hard for me without iTunes (well, maybe I'm exaggerating a little). Having all of my music at my fingertips is a luxury. And although I've managed to accumulate a considerable amount of songs over the years, my coworkers and I share our music libraries - which means I have access to all of their music, too.

Everyone's music reflects their unique personalities, and I've been able to expand my musical horizons greatly by being introduced to new bands and sounds. Not a bad deal, if you ask me.

The great thing about iTunes is it has so many features to make organizing, sharing, and listening to your music user-intuitive, or "Jane-proof" (Never claimed to be the most tech-savvy person). I can rate my songs, so it knows which are my favorites. I can sort by album, artist, play count, or genre, to name a few. Or, if I'm feeling particularly random, I can choose "Party Shuffle", which automatically selects songs from my playlist. I can import new music and I can burn CDs very easily. All in all, I can do pretty much anything I need with my music files. Impressive, huh?

It seems I'm not the only person who is impressed with the iTunes program. Recent news reports that radiologists are now using iTunes to sort, save, and search their personal learning files.

According to a recent study conducted by researchers at Renji Hospital and Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine in Shanghai, China, iTunes has the ability to manage and organize PDF files just as easily as music files, allowing radiologists to better organize their personal files of articles and images.

The study authors explain that radiologists gather their information not from conventional sources, such as textbooks, but from electronic databases in the form of PDF files. With the various cases, reviews and abundant, valuable images that are downloaded from these medical papers, it becomes essential for radiologists to have a straightforward method of quickly and easily storing them for further reading.

Organizing and maintaining these files is not easily addressed on a PC because there are often multi-subject articles. But this problem is easily addressed by iTunes' ability to remember a user's favorite articles and its capability to support customized shortcuts for different topics and/or categories.

How the researchers made the discovery is kind of serendipitous.

"One day I just happened to drag and drop a PDF into iTunes and was surprised to find that it was supported by iTunes. This means that you can search, describe, and rate PDFs just like you do the music files," says Dr. Qian, one of the study's authors. "We no longer need to keep PDF files in redundant folders."

Posted By: Jane Kollmer

So, I'm betting you're all as excited as I am that it's Friday! Who doesn't love Friday? Unless you're one of the unlucky ones who has to work over the weekend, Fridays are a great start to a couple of days of freedom from the stress and anxiety that work can cause.

And Fridays during the summer I especially look forward to - maybe because there's more to do with the extra hours of daylight or maybe because I have an easier time relaxing in the warmer weather.

Anyway, enough idle chat.

I've been getting in gear to plan out the magazine's editorial calendar for 2009, and while that can be an overwhelming and time-consuming task, it also gives me the opportunity to sit back and look at the big picture for once. Although there are certain topics and issues that we must cover on a yearly basis (as our readers have come to expect), there are endless possibilities for other topics that readers would want to know about.

With the radiology field always changing, we members of the editorial staff must take those shifting trends into consideration as we plan out a year's worth of coverage. Not an easy undertaking, but so important to the quality of the magazine. I've been keeping my eyes and ears open all along, but I know there are ideas out there that I'm missing out on.

Are there any topics that you would be interested in reading about? If so, drop me a line at jkollmer@rt-image.com.

Oh, and Happy Friday!

Posted by: Jane Kollmer

Great news, everyone!

I'm pleased to announce the winners of our first "Blog to Paradise" competition. The following professionals took home the top prizes.

Julie K. Irving, RT(R)(M)(CT), owner and recruiter for the staffing company, XRAYZ 4U, LLC – who received a total of 26 blog comments during the competition – took home top honors in the "Blogger" category.

According to Irving, "The contest has been a great way to entice professionals to begin communicating via blogs. I've thoroughly enjoyed the time spent blogging and conversing with others around the country about the future of radiology and staffing."

Irving thanks all those who participated with her, and she encourages them to continue checking the site.

Irving has been awarded a $250 cash prize for being the blogger who received the most comments during the competition. She plans to deposit the winnings into her 4-year-old's savings account. "Every little bit helps," Irving says.

Congratulations, Julie! Thanks to all of our other bloggers and commenters who posted during the contest.

The grand prize – a dream vacation for two valued up to $1,250 – was awarded to Emily A. Wagner, BSRS, RT(R), of Snook, Texas. Wagner, who is the clinical coordinator of radiologic technology at Blinn College, read and commented on many of the rt image blogs, increasing her chances of winning the dream vacation and promoting interaction among the blogs. As an educator, Wagner says she couldn't pass up the opportunity to network with others in her field and be entered for a chance to win the contest.

Wagner says she enjoys reading rt image because she can gain knowledge about upcoming technologies to share with her radiology students. She also encourages the students to add www.rt-image.com as a source for their papers and projects.

"Your site is awesome!" Wagner says. "I am new to teaching a 'modalities' class for our radiology students, and your site has been great for me to learn about new and upcoming technologies in multiple areas."

For her dream vacation, Emily plans to take her husband to a resort in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. She says, "I was so sad this year, because I could not afford to have a 'couples' trip with my husband, since we took our kids snow-skiing at spring break, so you've made my year - maybe my life!" Congratulations, Emily! Check back with rt image for photos from Emily's dream vacation on www.rt-image.com.

**Also, we would like to thank the Blog to Paradise sponsor, Imaging On Call for making this competition possible.**

Posted By: Jane Kollmer

In preparation for rt image's 20th anniversary issues, we're looking for the reader who has been with us the longest. If you are a long-time reader of the magazine, we want to hear from you! E-mail us by June 30 and tell us how long you've been a faithful reader.

The person deemed the "longest reader" will also grace the pages of rt image in a special feature. We look forward to your responses!