Cassling Names Texas Children’s Health as Winner of the 2025 Imaging for Impact Award

(Omaha, NE - August 26, 2025) - It’s with great pleasure that Cassling presents this year’s Imaging for Impact Award to Children’s Health of Plano, Texas, for their exceptional commitment to advancing patient-centered care through imaging innovation. Children’s Health was honored at Cassling’s Investing in You Educational Summit for developing a first-of-its-kind communication tool that significantly improves the MRI experience for deaf and hearing-impaired patients. Due to MRI safety concerns, patients are required to remove their hearing aids before entering the MRI suite. But with interpreters not permitted in, patients can’t receive the instructions of their technologists, which may lead to lengthy scans or a need for re-scans. This also leaves patients vulnerable to confusion, discomfort and anxiety. The Children’s team came up with an idea for a feature that would allow technologists to type real-time messages directly onto a screen viewed by patients during MRI scans. They took this idea to NordicNeuroLab for development and were able to implement it within their organization. The solution has already proven to be valuable. Patients are now able to quickly understand the instructions their technologists provide them, improving their experience and keeping scan times short and anxiety at a minimum. In fact, patient experience scores for Children’s Health MRI services rose from 79.9% in 2024 to 85.9% as of March 2025. Team members have reported feeling more engaged, motivated and empowered as they see their ideas drive meaningful change. “The success of this project has reinforced the idea that asking the right questions – no matter how unconventional – can lead to breakthroughs that improve patient care,” said Tammy Elliot, MRI Safety Officer at Children’s Health. The initiative has also led Children’s Health to propose additional inclusivity measures, such as offering disposable hijabs to Muslim patients during scans, reinforcing their commitment to providing a welcoming environment to patients of all cultural and religious backgrounds. “Children’s Health’s passionate spirit to remove communication barriers is an excellent example of patient-centered innovation,” said Brian Bradfield, Cassling’s chief operating officer. “We’re proud to honor their team for creating a solution that will have an impact across imaging departments for years to come.” Cassling would also like to recognize finalists Clearwater Valley Health from Orofino, Idaho, and Nebraska Medicine out of Omaha: Clearwater Valley Health launched a mobile mammography program to address access gaps in remote communities. By partnering with local clinics, they took high-quality breast cancer screening directly to underserved patients. Nebraska Medicine developed a Student Technologist Trainee Program to strengthen recruitment, mentorship and retention. By introducing a Radiology Professional Development Specialist role, they ensure new hires receive tailored support to sustain a strong pipeline for future imaging professionals.