Blogging in the New Year @NFMD

The New Year is when blogs turn to sum up the year, but I decided to make this a two-part post, with a few points looking back at New Frontier’s 2021 and a few predictions for 2022!

Looking back at 2021

New Frontier had a great 2021.

It was off to a slow start, but word got out that we “walk the walk.” We didn’t just talk about quality imaging; we did everything we could to deliver it, achieving our goal of zero inconclusive studies for patients.

It was up to great partners like the practices in the Midwest Direct Primary Care Alliance to spread the word. We were proud to create a partner program for MDPCA members, resulting in lower costs for patient procedures.

New Frontier beefed up our sonography leadership by adding Mindy Ammer as our Lead Sonographer over Vascular, General, and OB/GYN imaging. She joins Leah Astleford, our Lead Sonographer over Cardiac imaging, in managing the sonography team and defining imaging processes.

With her addition, New Frontier also added Women’s Health to our services, allowing us to bring OB/GYN services to doctor’s offices and clinics throughout our service area.

New Frontier was also happy to partner with the Saint Luke’s Hospital System and Kindred Northland Hospital, providing New Frontier sonographers to meet staffing and procedure needs.

We closed 2021 by adding four new sonographers to the team – Sa Phan, Sara Nelson, Susan Black, and Alyssa Kurth all joined in the last two months, ensuring 2022 will be a very exciting time!

Predictions for 2022

Looking forward, I have a few predictions for what will happen in 2022:

1. More people will learn the Greek alphabet, as new COVID variants continue to pop up across the world. Hopefully, we’ll get it under control?
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR) use will increase in ultrasound care. Companies are currently developing AI to assess ultrasound images, in hopes of proactively supporting radiology decisions, and VR can be combined with imaging for direct needle guidance. Technology is really cool.
3. Space travel will no longer be limited to billionaires; it will become cheap enough that multi-millionaires can enjoy it, too.
4. NFMD will expand to new markets like St. Louis, adding to our family of happy patients and partners! We already have sonographers identified, so if you know anyone that could use quality imaging care, let us know.

We hope everyone had a great holiday season, and we’re looking forward to hearing from you in 2022!