Learning Objectives: Technologies and tools for boosting radiologist productivity; Action plans for improving imaging workflow; Tactics for thriving in today's healthcare environment; Strategies for optimizing service to referring physicians; A look into the future of image sharing, accessibility, diagnostic reporting, multi-ology archiving and reimbursement

In today's healthcare environment, there's no question that the need to connect silos of data, whether department or enterprise wide, has become an increasing demand placed on IT infrastructures.

Rutland Regional Medical Center in Vermont, is a 188-bed rural hospital that effectively weds high-tech imaging with patient-centric care. This high-tech hospital with a hometown touch utilizes an integrated RIS-PACS-reporting solution in its radiology department that is delivering benefits across the health system.

Lifespan is a five-hospital system in Providence, R.I., managing more than 500,000 radiology and cardiology exams per year. To balance the image management needs across departments, meet the daily demands of access to full clinical information across their health system with an eye on future participation in the Accountable Care initiative, Lifespan is embarking on a multi-year journey to leverage IT infrastructure as a strategic asset and utilize a combination of an enterprise vendor neutral archive coupled with archive neutral PACS for radiology, cardiology, endoscopy and other departments.