New YouTube Channel

I'm excited to announce that I will be starting to post videos here via YouTube.  I only have one as of today, but there will be more to come very soon.  Please take a moment to subscribe to my channel.  I'm also taking suggestions for topics if you have anything you would like to see.  Please keep in mind that I am not planning on placing an entire x-ray program's worth of material here, but I would like to keep it to possibly clarifications of those topics, real-world examples of specific areas in your program, and/or advanced imaging topics - things you may learn after you graduate and obtain more experience.

That being said... my first video is a quick image critique of a portable chest x-ray (note - if you go to my YouTube channel, TopicsInRadiography, you can see the image at full size with much better detail):

How Will Healthcare Reform Affect Us?

To answer this with the information we have available to us right now... I don't know.  Nobody really knows because there is no definitive information about our direction, and it's ever-changing politics and strategies for dealing with it keep us on our toes, nervous and sweating bullets.  

What do we know about issues affecting us as Radiographers?  Medicare reimbursement is expected to decrease, followed by insurance coverage that will follow suit based on what Medicare is doing.  In other words, we will be expected to perform the same job, if not an increase in volume with our aging population, with fewer financial resources.  In order to stay ahead of the wake of financial burden, we are going to be asked to reduce cost... by means of supplies, labor, and waste while improving productivity and efficiency... not to mention the dependence on patient satisfaction for maximum reimbursement.  Quite the task!

I wanted to post this topic because I'm looking for interaction with you.  What is your hospital or health care system doing to plan for this?  Do they have a plan?  Have they begun any changes in practice?  My employer has some ground-breaking initiatives on this side of the country that are measurably making improvements in preparation for these cost-cutting requirements.  It is encouraging, but there is still work to do.  I encourage participation from all levels of the organizational flow chart as we are sometimes blind to perspectives above and below us.  What are your thoughts?