Frost & Sullivan to Participate in Webinar "Innovating Radiology: Is It In You?"

- Will discuss vRad's 2014 North American Visionary Innovation Award in Medical Imaging Analytics and its Radiology Patient Care (RPC^SM) Indices that anticipates demand for clinical and financial performance measurement as value-based imaging becomes prominent

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, May 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Frost & Sullivan will participate in a webinar by Virtual Radiologic (vRad), the nation's largest telemedicine company and radiology practice with over 450 physicians. Designed for radiology administrators and leaders, this webinar will discuss how innovation can address seismic shifts, drive continued growth, and foster alignment with referring physicians, hospital administrators and the patients they collectively serve. The webinar will take place on May 22, 2014 at 10:00 am EDT; please register here.

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Attendees will also:

• Hear "Lessons Learned" from the nation's largest radiology group as it defined and designed a strategy based on analytics, collaboration and communication for better alignment with its healthcare partners.
• Discover new growth opportunities for radiology, such as direct-to-patient remote diagnostic services, and extension to other global telemedicine platforms and models.

Frost & Sullivan recognized vRad with the 2014 North America Frost & Sullivan Award for Visionary Innovation based on recent analysis of the medical imaging analytics market. By being among the early movers in the market, vRad sensed the need for better clinical and operational analytics in the imaging industry, and it responded swiftly by developing toolsets that enable enterprises to more effectively measure and benchmark the value, quality and performance of their imaging services.

To develop clinical and business intelligence and improve operational performance metrics of imaging services, vRad leveraged its access to a large customer base of radiology groups in hospitals and ambulatory facilities. The company then gradually released to the wider market findings-based metrics known as the Radiology Patient Care (RPC^SM) Indices. vRad made these indices publically available at no charge to encourage industry dialogue aimed at uncovering new ways to benefit radiology performance and patient care. 

"The higher visibility into the quality of their services and patient outcomes is more important than ever before for imaging providers," said Frost & Sullivan Industry Principal Nadim Daher. "These insights can help providers uncover best practices that can refine clinical and operational processes, allow for better resource deployment, and drive decisions supported by data rather than conjecture."

The first set of a sequence of the RPC releases, which pertains to the use of computed tomography (CT) in the emergency department, has already started to help hospitals and radiology groups drive innovation with quality analytics. Another recent RPC release included datasets that offered 24/7 monitoring of a radiology department, using interactive infographics that show study relative value units (RVUs), modality mix, patient type and reading location by three distinct radiology shifts. Isolating data associated with each shift can provide greater insight into its economic and operating implications.

The RPC Indices can align well with imaging enterprises' necessary efforts to enhance operational performance, as well as the value and quality of service they deliver. By achieving higher quality and cost-effectiveness, the imaging enterprise can contribute more effectively to the wider effort of decreasing patient re-admissions and improving the patient experience. Over the long term, online monitoring of quality metrics can provide overarching value to the overall healthcare industry by trickling down to the patient population as well.

"Providers that wish to align their internal quality metrics with vRad's RPC Indices can do so independently or by partnering with vRad by utilizing its analytics solutions," noted Daher. "This represents an opportunity for vRad to evolve as a strategic partner for its radiology group and health system customers, and at the same time to create synergies with its partners by helping them enhance quality, value and performance."

About vRad (Virtual Radiologic)

vRad (Virtual Radiologic) is a global telemedicine company and the nation's largest radiology practice with over 450 physicians. Our patented software, data, and clinical processes allow referring physicians to quickly and securely pass patient imaging and information to specialists in order to improve the speed, accuracy, and cost of clinical diagnosis. vRad's physicians and operational platform serve 2,000+ hospitals, reading over 7 million patient radiology reports annually. vRad is also a leader in healthcare informatics: its Radiology Patient Care (RPC^SM) Indices are the first findings-based national and peer group benchmarking metrics for the use of radiology imaging. Our analytics platform includes over 24 million imaging studies, growing at 600,000 per month. vRad's clinical expertise and evidence-based insight help clients make better decisions for the health of their patients and their practices. For more information, visit www.vrad.com. For real-time updates, follow us on Twitter (@vRad), or "like" us on Facebook.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies? Contact us: Start the discussion.

Contact:

Mireya Espinoza
P: 210. 247.3870
F: 210.348.1003
E: mireya.espinoza@frost.com

Robert Minicucci
P: 339.206.1722
E: rminicucci@comcast.net