Many will remember the segment of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" in the Disney film Fantasia; it is a perfect metaphor for medical imaging as it stands today. The apprentice magician tests his nascent skills at sorcery by bringing common household items to life and putting them to work. At first, things go well, but eventually he loses control, and chaos ensues.
Medical imaging, too, could spin out of control. The benefits of imaging are undeniable. In the past thirty years, innovations like CT, MRI, and PET scanning have not only markedly reduced clinical risk for patients but have also transformed medical practice. Its costs, however, have grown explosively, to the point where imaging expenses have become a political issue. The aggressive adoption of imaging technology has raised issues about the role of inappropriate economic incentives and the role of defensive medicine in driving up medical costs.
Radiologists have utilized imaging technology to transform their practice from a pure diagnostic discipline into a curative one. Radiologists are among the most successful knowledge workers in the entire economy, leveraging digital information technology and Internet connectivity to become the first global medical discipline. Imaging is poised to make a further quantum advance - into the workings of the human cell and the molecular biology of complex disease.
Where is this remarkable technology, and the discipline which uses it, headed? How can society make the most responsible use of this powerful new tool? How will imaging and radiologists reshape medical practice? These questions will be answered by The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
Industry Reviews
"...provides fascinating perspectives on the major issues and opportunities to be faced now and in the futureEL.required reading for today's and tomorrow's leaders in Radiology, healthcare policy makers, and medical visionaries."
-- Paul E. Berger, MD, Founder and former CEO and Chairman of the Board, NightHawk Radiology Services
"...a brilliantly conceived piece of work...reads like a novel but covers topics of interest to the present and the future of healthcare."
--Harvey L. Neiman, MD, Executive Director, American College of Radiology
"...timely, comprehensive, insightful and critically important...the insights offered will be essential to inform health policies that promote innovation in medical imaging that could make health care both better and cheaper."
--Sean Tunis, MD, MSc, Director of the Center for Medical Technology Policy; formerly (until 2005) Chief Medical Officer, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
"an extraordinary book... The Radiologist will assume the mantle of the Sorcerer, formulating accurate, evidence-based medical decisions that measure up to society's need for affordable access to valuable and beneficial imaging innovations."
--Eric Z. Silfen, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Philips Health Care
"Their wonderful book chronicles the rise of modern imaging from its ancillary roots to where it is today positioned astride the critical path of care for most diseases and conditions... a transformational story and one worth knowing."
--James Thrall, MD, Radiologist-in-Chief, Massachusetts General Hospital
"...I would recommend The Sorcerer's Apprentice to physician colleagues interested in learning more about the economic and political implications of medical decisions as well as to nonphysician friends and family members interested in learning more about medical imaging and health care reform." --JAMA
