Radiology information systems (RIS) have been around for decades. As an integral part of your practice’s healthcare IT infrastructure, your RIS is baked into most of your office’s daily operations.

This makes it easy to take your legacy RIS for granted and overlook what a modern, cloud-based radiology information system can do for you. 

What’s New with Today’s RIS? 90s Tech vs. Today’s Potential 

As early as the 60s, radiology practices launched radiology information systems to manage workflow and organize patient data. By the 90s, analog RIS solutions were rife with paper forms, scribbled-out pen entries, and haphazardly scanned-in patient data. This led to manual errors, time-consuming busywork, and entire rooms of cabinets brimming with filed-for-later strike folders. 

Fast forward to today. Now, radiology information systems are capable of automating everyday tasks, using operational intelligence to streamline frequent workflows, and leveraging cloud-native infrastructure to enable collaboration.  

(Think: Less Rolodex-and-rewrite, more autofill-and-AirDrop.) 

The result? 

Radiology practices can conveniently collaborate, effectively engage with patients, save office space and admin time, and be prepared to manage ever-growing volumes of imaging data. 

And that’s just the beginning. 

The Practical Power of Today’s RIS to Transform Your Practice

What are the capabilities of a modern RIS? 

With the right system, you can upgrade virtually every aspect of your radiology practice. For example: 

Your radiology information system can enable better work (without burnout).

With an updated RIS, you can automate manual tasks your staff frequently tackles, from patient registration to revenue cycle management. As your practice grows, this helps ease administrative burdens, equipping you to keep up with the demands on your team’s time.  

Your radiology information system can make smooth data exchange possible.  

A cloud-native RIS acts as a bridge between all the various (and vital!) teams and functions within your practice. Your patients, providers, and staff all interact within one platform, without having to juggle multiple systems, logins, and interfaces. This allows seamless data exchange between departments and healthcare providers, promoting collaboration and coordinated care. 

Your radiology information system can make clean, fast claims billing a breeze. 

A modern RIS can facilitate billing by collecting all necessary information, ensuring coding accuracy, and validating claim information. Your RIS can also do so at a strategic time—for example, by helping patients understand what they owe and prompting payment before service, not after. This reduces paperwork, accelerates helpful revenue cycle management from the beginning, and helps your office comply with good faith estimate mandates. This supports your relationship with patients and fuels financial stability for your radiology practice. 

Your radiology information system can empower effective patient engagement.

Through today’s RIS solutions, patients can access intuitive self-scheduling tools. Allowing patients to book their appointments drives patient engagement, reduces wait times, no-shows, and contraindications, and helps you more strategically allocate your office resources. It also equips your radiologists to understand, meet, and exceed patient expectations.

Your radiology information system can help you make better decisions for your practice. 

A modern RIS can provide advanced analytics and relevant, hard-to-obtain information (e.g., your order-to-scan compliance rate or pre-registration rate). The result? You’ll be better equipped to support your team using data-driven insights for enhanced performance monitoring, resource optimization, and informed decision-making.

Your radiology information system can help your practice grow and save money. 

A cloud-native RIS decreases the need for on-premises infrastructure, reducing hardware and maintenance costs. It also offers the ability to add new features quickly, allowing practices to adapt to changing needs, catch up on backlogged care, and efficiently handle increased patient volumes. 

Can My Radiology Information System Really Do That?

It depends. When was the last time you updated your RIS or thought about augmenting your current system’s capabilities? 

There’s a decent chance that the right RIS can solve frustrating problems your practice is already facing. But to unlock these high-powered benefits, you need a similarly high-powered RIS. 

Yesterday’s options won’t cut it. To future-proof your practice, it’s time to think about automated solutions and cloud-native approaches. 

Here’s Why Working with a Cloud-Native, AI-Powered RIS Is the New Standard

A cloud-based radiology information system is designed and built for the cloud computing environment. Unlike deployed-on-premises solutions, a cloud-native RIS operates entirely in the cloud. 

This comes with several benefits. For example, cloud-native RIS:

• - Enables remote, mobile, or flexible work (or collaboration).
• - Integrates with other cloud-based systems, from electronic health records (EHRs) to imaging and beyond.
• - Benefits from automatic software updates and enhancements.
• - Leverages cloud networking, power, and storage, which can be simple to upgrade if your practice is ready to scale!

What’s more: The next wave of RIS innovations is just around the corner. Rethinking your RIS today can help you unlock boosts in practice efficiency for years to come.

Is It Time to Rethink Your RIS? We’re Here to Help

Are you ready to reimagine the role of your radiology information system? 

By partnering with Royal Solutions Group—the only cloud-native RIS and billing company powered by AI—you can unlock unique advantages that will transform your practice. Our team specializes in optimizing engagement in all areas of practice management and patient care. We’re here to help you reduce the time your practice spends on low-value activities so you can focus on engaging with your patients and providing stellar care. 

Are you ready to get started? Click here to learn more about cloud-based radiology information systems and take the first step toward a more efficient radiology practice.