Abstract
The main objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the impact of information technology on radiology services during the past 15 years and to promote awareness of the digital revolution that is taking place in health care, including radiology. The combination of two major innovations is playing a central role in this revolution, namely, the Internet and the digitisation of medical information. The various stages of the Internet development and their relationship with the almost simultaneously ongoing digitisation of the radiology department are described. The onset of teleradiology services and the more recent trend toward the usage of cloud-based networks and services are explained. The recent changes in digital communication and electronic transmission of medical information are discussed, hereby paying attention to the value of social media in medicine and radiology in particular. Finally, the future prospects of health care and medical imaging are outlined in the spotlight of today’s major trends, and the role of the radiologist in this quickly changing environment is redefined.
Highlights
During the past few decades, the limits of imaging informatics have been pushed beyond traditional borders due to several major changes in computer and communication technology
In the recently conducted RANSOM survey, it was demonstrated that 85 percent of radiologists intensively use social media, mostly for a mixture of private and professional reasons [1, 7]
The “new” radiologist can play a crucial role in efficiently communicating all relevant information to both clinicians and patients to assist them in making the optimal decisions regarding diagnosis and treatment. Another milestone in information technology (IT) is the development of artificial intelligence (AI), which made a huge step forward in recent years
Summary
Article based on PhD dissertation to obtain the degree of doctor in medical sciences, defended at the University of Antwerp on July 14, 2016. The main objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the impact of information technology on radiology services during the past 15 years and to promote awareness of the digital revolution that is taking place in health care, including radiology. The combination of two major innovations is playing a central role in this revolution, namely, the Internet and the digitisation of medical information. The recent changes in digital communication and electronic transmission of medical information are discussed, hereby paying attention to the value of social media in medicine and radiology in particular. The future prospects of health care and medical imaging are outlined in the spotlight of today’s major trends, and the role of the radiologist in this quickly changing environment is redefined
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