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Growing up in the Boston area, it’s easy to forget that some of the world’s finest hospitals and medical centers reside in our backyard.  From pharmaceuticals and medical devices to diagnostics and biotechnology, Massachusetts is a global leader in the life sciences, thanks to the region’s world-class academic institutions and medical centers, our talented workforce, and our industry-sector leading companies.

With two of the top hospitals in the nation within miles of my home and work, expert healthcare is easy to find.  Brigham & Women’s Hospital, number 10 on the annual America’s Best Hospitals rankings, is recognized around the world for its outstanding reputation in biomedical research.

At Brigham and Women’s Hospital, medical experts are using a “Radiology Theatre” to “make rounds” on a patient — no matter where the doctors are located.  Using the Radiology Theater, teams of medical experts can simultaneously discuss and review patients’ MRI, CT scans and other medical test data using a Web browser.

The theatre allows teams of medical experts to discuss, tag and share information simultaneously, rather than paging through stacks of papers, calling physicians to discuss scan results and then charting the results. This collaborative consultation brings together the personal data, the experts and the clinical data in one physical, visual theatre.

Developed by IBM, the Radiology Theater has the potential to change the way radiologists communicate with patients and other health-care professionals.

In this video, Dr. Francine Jacobson, thoracic radiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, discusses how an implementation of Brigham & Women’s “Radiology Theatre” will lead to smarter patients and doctors, who will make more informed decisions, and smarter communities, which will drive improvements in healthcare.

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