CMS Imaging Blog

I recently read an article in Kaiser Health News concerning Walmart steering its employees with injuries to imaging centers based on accuracy and not price.During the past few years, specialized hospitals throughout the country misdiagnosed approximately 50% of the Walmart employees with back injuries. As a result of these misdiagnoses, most of these employees underwent needless surgeries for injuries instead of less expensive, non-surgical treatments.

Last month, I wrote about the importance of replacing aged medical imaging equipment. But how is it best to go about convincing the leadership of a facility to invest in new equipment?

Radiology departments, imaging facilities, and private practices need to replace or add medical imaging equipment and technology continually. Often the reason for these new purchases is merely to replace old or broken equipment. Sometimes it is to acquire new technology, improve patient experience, or to achieve a higher throughput of patients. But no matter the reason, cost and revenue implications are the two usual speed-bumps in the road.

In 1895 Wilhelm Roentgen discovered the x-ray while working with a cathode-ray tube in his laboratory in Wuerzburg University in Germany. He called this mysterious ray 'x-radiation' because he didn't know what it was. This mysterious radiation could pass through most substances that absorb visible light. From this discovery, Roentgen discovered that this ray could pass through human skin, but not bones nor metal objects. Though one of his first successful images was of his wife, Bertha's hand, his interest was not for medical application; instead, he wished to use it for commercial applications. It wasn't until February 1896 when John Hall-Edwards in Birmingham, England that an x-ray image was used in a surgical operation.

From these early images to today, medical imaging has become a crucial element in the modern healthcare system. Modern radiology provides today's physicians with a fast and accurate diagnosis to facilitate the improvement in health outcomes and quality of life for the patients. However, this 'fast and accurate diagnosis' is often dependant on the equipment used to take the x-ray. A major factor in the 'fast and accurate diagnosis' is age and the modernity of technology of the equipment used in our healthcare facilities today.

In 1994, a relatively unknown former investment banker decided that he had a better way to sell books than the typical brick and mortar stores. He named this company Cadabra and consulted with former executives in the publishing industry to provide consumers a new way to shop for books.

His lawyer told him that 'Cadabra' sounded too much like 'Cadaver,' so he then tried out 'Relentless.' This time his friends advised him that this name was too aggressive for a business. By now, most of you will know this is the story of Jeff Bezos and the founding of Amazon. (If you type relentless.com into your browser, guess where the page redirects.) Over the next 25 years, Jeff Bezos and Amazon have rewritten business as we know it and has turned many industries on their heads.