'The future is now: imaging, therapy and economics' was the theme of a recent meeting of HCIAC, the American equivalent of CoRIPS.
A presentation by Audrey Paterson, the College’s director of professional policy, to the Health Care Industry Advisory Council, looked at the state of international medical imaging and radiation therapy.
She commented, “Not surprisingly, much of the discussion at the meeting was on economic matters and the impact these are having, especially on training budgets and initiatives. There is evidence that some departments in the USA are cutting back, while others see this as short-termism.
“It is clear that manufacturers are looking carefully at how they could develop what they do in terms of education and training support to make it more widely accessible and as cost effective as possible while containing their own costs,” Audrey continued.
“The American Society of Radiologic Technologists is evaluating carefully what it does to enhance the benefits to industry of being a partner in their scheme and they have produced a booklet which shows these in 'dollar value' terms. We are looking at publishing a UK version.”
