 Lord help us, I think the pace is quickening!
The next 12 months promises to reveal more change in the MRI world than any year since the modality was popularized!
Of course, we've already seen the implementation of the DRA cuts to technical fees. Expect to see and hear a lot this year on issues of patient throughput and 'total process management' of MR facilities and operations.
The much anticipated Joint Commission Sentinel Event Alert on MRI safety and accidents is expected to be released this month and will likely cause all sorts of chaos, particularly for accredited facilities and those expecting site surveys in the near future.
The American Journal of Roentgenology has accepted the ACR Guidance Document for MR Safe Practices: 2007 and the ACR may soon be releasing a preview in advance of the full document's publication in the pages of AJR later this spring. This will signal a global change in the de facto standards for MRI safety.
And five years after the filing of the lawsuit for the 2001 death of a six-year-old boy in a tragic MRI accident, the parties may face one another in a New York State Supreme Court courtroom later this year.
Closer to home, we are beginning to rough out our presentation schedule for the year. As conference engagements are confirmed we will let you know so that you have every opportunity to keep up on this whirling world of MRI!
Please also check out our special 'Share The News' promotion below for your chance to win a free full access subscription to the MRI Newsletter.
As always, we hope that you will contact us if you have any questions about anything you read in the newsletter, or if we can be of any assistance to you.
Robert Junk, AIA, AHRA
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Forward the MRI Newsletter to your colleagues (use the link at the foot of this email and everyone's privacy is assured) and you will have a chance to win a free year's subscription. Forward it to 5 or 10 MRI colleagues and you help to assure that we'll draw your name!
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As a courtesy to all of our subscribers, we will send out a special email alert with information on the content and recommendations of the anticipated Joint Commission Sentinel Event Alert on MRI safety and accidents. As soon as we know, we will pass it along to you just a quickly as we can.MRI Newsletter - Article Archive
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Don't forget that the archive of previous MRI Newsletter articles has been recently updated. Click here to see all the articles that are available.
While the archive index is available to everyone, only subscribers will be able to access the full text, except the published public-access issues.
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The New 10 Answers:
Part 2 of 2
By Robert Junk, AIA, AHRA and Tobias Gilk
Last month we published the new and improved version of our Ten Questions which MRI facilities should be sure to ask their prospective architects, engineers, equipment planners and contractors before entrusting them with crafting a facility to enable your million-dollar piece of equipment. Now that everyone has had a month to mull over their own answers, we’d like to take this opportunity to share our answers with you...
Click here to be taken to the full article.
MRI Suite Level Designations.
By Tobias Gilk
As clinical applications have grown beyond ‘walkie talkie’ ambulatory patients, we are using MRI to not only image, but also to guide treatment therapies and invasive procedures. Over the last 20 years, the only things that have changed more than the MRI equipment are the patients and the prescribed therapies they receive in the MRI suite.
Click here to be taken to the full article.
An Open Letter To MRI Equipment Vendors
By Tobias Gilk
If you read these columns with any regularity, you’ve undoubtedly read previous words of caution about the dizzying array of marketing jargon used to promote chairs, carts, wheelchairs, fire extinguishers, procedure lights and every other appliance and appurtenance designed for use in MRI suites. Today, I’d like to kick-off 2007 with an open letter to vendors and manufacturers of equipment marketed for MRI suites. And my letter opens with just one word, “STOP!”...
Click here to be taken to the full article.
Articles In The Works
In the upcoming months we will be sharing articles with you on a number of topics, from tools that are immediately applicable, to strategies that will help your facility on into the future. Several planned upcoming articles include:
- Preparing For Your Next JCAHO MRI Survey
- Forthcoming MRI Suite Design Guidance
- Siting Impacts On Image Quality
We Love Hearing From You!
Feel free to contact us with any questions or comments on the articles or issues you'd like to see covered.
MRI-Planning.com
802 Broadway - 5th Floor
Kansas City, MO 54105
816-472-7722
MRI_Expert@MRI-Planning.com
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