So rather than saying maybe we’ll need less radiology, you can look at it from another perspective. If you’re an accountable care organization (ACO), and we’re in a DRG-based reimbursement system, you might think at first that that means less imaging. But if you can image them when they come in the door, and you get the right diagnosis quickly, you can triage the patient more quickly, provide higher quality of care, decrease their length of stay and hopefully a better outcome.

So maybe imaging is going to grow more. But reimbursement is tough to figure out what’s going to happen.

What do you expect from RSNA’s 98th Scientific Assembly?

Bisset: The theme this year is going to be “patients first.” I want to focus on patients as customers rather than subjects of investigation and make radiologists understand that behind every image that we interpret is a patient. We need to focus more on patient-centered care. We need to become critical parts of the patient care team. I think you’ll see lots of courses on the patient-centered philosophy in medical care, the medical home.

From a technology perspective, you’ll see some new applications of molecular imaging, particularly PET/CT and PET/MR, more compact units that deliver ultrasound and that eventually will become an extension of the physical exam. In the area of CT, the two innovations will be faster and lower dose and some advanced image processing.

The attendance this year also will be more global. The international attendance continues to grow.

What do you see just over the horizon for radiology?

Bisset: We as radiologists have to become critical to patient care, and earlier diagnosis is going to be the wave to ride to the future. When you think about it, we have a role in almost every disease that is seen at our hospital. Almost everyone who comes, at some point, gets a diagnostic study. Our responsibility is to be an important part of the care team. We need to continue to focus on lowering the dose of radiation to patients, whether through PET or CT. As imaging experts, we need to emphasize the appropriate utilization of imaging. To that role, we need to educate our clinicians and help them as consultants. Another important new development is that we’re emphasizing lifelong learning.