The RADIANT Newsletter Brings Architecture for Radiology Suites to Architects (and Code Officials)
RADIOLOGY-Planning launches an email newsletter on the planning and architecture of radiology and imaging facilities, and has already seen the ripples affecting designers and code officials.
Kansas City, MO, June 26, 2011 --(PR.com)-- RADIOLOGY-Planning (RAD-Planning) launched an email newsletter in late 2010, sharing the firm's expertise on radiology planning, design, and construction issues with thousands of worldwide subscribers. The May / June issue of the newsletter, titled The RADIANT, includes a peek behind the curtain to what code officials may now be expecting of architecture for radiology suites.
The newsletter, freely available online (http://www.rad-planning.com/newsletter/2011/1105_0_The_RADIANT_Newsletter.html), includes a number of stories that are specific to individual imaging and therapy specialties, including MRI, PET / nuclear medicine, and CT scanners, as well as global planning and design guidance. The highlighted feature in the May / June 2011 issue, however, is the look at new codes and standards that govern engineering and architecture for radiology facilities.
The RADIANT's letter from the editor shares a link to a recorded webinar (http://www.rad-planning.com/webinars/1103_code_officials/video/2010_Guidelines_Radiology_Code_Video.html) that had been offered to representatives from all 50 U.S. states' departments of health, and the major radiology accreditation organizations. In that video, RAD-Planning's Senior VP, Tobias Gilk, and Senior Project Manager, Scott Branton, enumerated the changes represented by updated standards that applied to many U.S. states and Joint Commission accredited hospitals and providers.
"Medical imaging is advancing just like the technology behind personal computers, or cell phones, and the standards for architecture for radiology are struggling to keep up," offered Branton. "We're making better scanners, using them for a broader array of clinical uses, and simultaneously restructuring how we deliver healthcare. The old codes were simply horribly out of date... for healthcare providers, architects, and for state code officials!"
As an example, Branton pointed to sections of the old code (and vestigial remnants, even in the contemporary 2010 edition of the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities), where chemical darkrooms and film storage were required. "Look no further than the camera you take pictures with... Do you need to take them to get them chemically developed, or are they digital files? Do you think that the major equipment manufacturers are going to make a $2 million MRI scanner that won't provide you digital images?"
The RADIANT articles and features, such as the radiology code webinar, have been picked up by other outlets, further reinforcing the publication's authority (not to mention that of the firm) with respect to radiology design. The American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) cited the original RADIANT article on new radiology design codes, and then followed up with a 2nd announcement identifying a RADIANT article which exposed, and resolved, a conflict between two codes that govern the design and construction of MRI facilities (http://www.rad-planning.com/newsletter/2011/1105_NEWS_FLASH_ASHE_Insider.html).
"We're humbled that our work has so quickly been devoured and re-distributed by the imaging and architecture communities," stated Gilk, "though it's not an accident that it has happened. We've been actively working on advancing design standards and best-practices for the architecture of radiology and imaging for about a decade now."
RAD-Planning offers the current version of The RADIANT available through their website (http://www.rad-planning.com/newsletter.html), as well as offering a sign up for complimentary email delivery for future issues on the same page.
As for where to go from here, Gilk seems to think that the publication is on the right track... "Whether it's design codes, efficiency and throughput strategies, or designs to enhance the safety of radiology patients and staff, we hope that The RADIANT continues to expand our ability to share our expertise with a growing community."
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The newsletter, freely available online (http://www.rad-planning.com/newsletter/2011/1105_0_The_RADIANT_Newsletter.html), includes a number of stories that are specific to individual imaging and therapy specialties, including MRI, PET / nuclear medicine, and CT scanners, as well as global planning and design guidance. The highlighted feature in the May / June 2011 issue, however, is the look at new codes and standards that govern engineering and architecture for radiology facilities.
The RADIANT's letter from the editor shares a link to a recorded webinar (http://www.rad-planning.com/webinars/1103_code_officials/video/2010_Guidelines_Radiology_Code_Video.html) that had been offered to representatives from all 50 U.S. states' departments of health, and the major radiology accreditation organizations. In that video, RAD-Planning's Senior VP, Tobias Gilk, and Senior Project Manager, Scott Branton, enumerated the changes represented by updated standards that applied to many U.S. states and Joint Commission accredited hospitals and providers.
"Medical imaging is advancing just like the technology behind personal computers, or cell phones, and the standards for architecture for radiology are struggling to keep up," offered Branton. "We're making better scanners, using them for a broader array of clinical uses, and simultaneously restructuring how we deliver healthcare. The old codes were simply horribly out of date... for healthcare providers, architects, and for state code officials!"
As an example, Branton pointed to sections of the old code (and vestigial remnants, even in the contemporary 2010 edition of the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities), where chemical darkrooms and film storage were required. "Look no further than the camera you take pictures with... Do you need to take them to get them chemically developed, or are they digital files? Do you think that the major equipment manufacturers are going to make a $2 million MRI scanner that won't provide you digital images?"
The RADIANT articles and features, such as the radiology code webinar, have been picked up by other outlets, further reinforcing the publication's authority (not to mention that of the firm) with respect to radiology design. The American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) cited the original RADIANT article on new radiology design codes, and then followed up with a 2nd announcement identifying a RADIANT article which exposed, and resolved, a conflict between two codes that govern the design and construction of MRI facilities (http://www.rad-planning.com/newsletter/2011/1105_NEWS_FLASH_ASHE_Insider.html).
"We're humbled that our work has so quickly been devoured and re-distributed by the imaging and architecture communities," stated Gilk, "though it's not an accident that it has happened. We've been actively working on advancing design standards and best-practices for the architecture of radiology and imaging for about a decade now."
RAD-Planning offers the current version of The RADIANT available through their website (http://www.rad-planning.com/newsletter.html), as well as offering a sign up for complimentary email delivery for future issues on the same page.
As for where to go from here, Gilk seems to think that the publication is on the right track... "Whether it's design codes, efficiency and throughput strategies, or designs to enhance the safety of radiology patients and staff, we hope that The RADIANT continues to expand our ability to share our expertise with a growing community."
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Contact
RADIOLOGY Planning
Tobias Gilk
816-472-7722
www.RAD-Planning.com
Tobias Gilk
816-472-7722
www.RAD-Planning.com
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