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AR: Talk is not cheap—the payoff + costs of patient communication

Tuesday, May 15
anxious woman - 273.92 Kb
When patients are asked how they prefer to receive radiology results—either from their referring physician or directly from the radiologist—they seem to want things both ways. A recent survey has shown that about three quarters of patients prefer to hear results through the traditional model, from the referring physician, but a nearly equal proportion expect their results to come from the experts at image interpretation, according to a study published in the June issue of Academic Radiology.
 

Radiology: Contrast-enhanced US could cut EVAR follow-up risks

Tuesday, May 15
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) stents with bilateral iliac arteries - 86.91 Kb
Contrast-enhanced ultrasound may complement CT angiography surveillance of patients following endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (EVAR) and help curb the risk of kidney toxicity, according to a study published online May 15 in Radiology.
 

AIM: Electronic prep, CTC could improve colon cancer screening

Monday, May 14
colon cancer - 204.89 Kb
Laxative-free CT colonography (CTC) provided reasonable accuracy in the detection of adenomas 10 mm or larger and improved patient comfort compared with optical colonoscopy, according to a study published May 15 in Annals of Internal Medicine.
 

Study: Accountability at a glance—new tool may cut unnecessary CT exams in ED

Friday, May 11
EMERGENCY - 53.69 Kb
Emergency physicians at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania reduced abdominal CT scans approximately 10 percent after implementing an electronic accountability tool in the EMR and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems, according to a study presented May 11 at the annual meeting of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.
 

AHIMA: Are state-level HIEs DOA?

Friday, May 11
world, stethoscope - 66.52 Kb
Are state level health information exchanges already obsolete before sprinting out of the gates? Chris Dimick, writer at AHIMA, poses the question in an article published in Journal of the American Health Information Management Association.
 

SCAI: Iliac stents gain MOBILITY in treatment of PAD

Friday, May 11
horizon, path, highway, road - 238.01 Kb
LAS VEGAS—When treating a real-world sample of patients for intermittent claudication or critical limb ischemia, two off-label iliac artery stents showed a statistically significant performance goal for low major adverse event rates, according to the late breaking MOBILITY trial results presented May 10 at the 35th annual meeting of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI). During the press conference, experts suggested that this study may further reinforce the role of percutaneous treatments over the more invasive surgical option for these sick patients.
 

FDA: Controversial stenting treatment for MS may endanger patients

Thursday, May 10
warning, stop, caution - 46.01 Kb
The FDA issued an alert May 10, warning healthcare professionals and patients about injuries and death associated with the use of balloon angioplasty or stenting, an experimental treatment for treating chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI).
 

JNM: SPECT tracer shines light on lung malignancies

Thursday, May 10
lungs - 84.62 Kb
99mTc-3PRGD2, a new SPECT tracer that targets integrin xvB3 receptor, is sensitive for the detection of lung cancer, according to a study published in the May issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
 

FDA recommends imaging vendors demonstrate pediatric safety

Wednesday, May 09
FDA logo - 10.14 Kb
The FDA has issued a draft guidance outlining its current thinking regarding information that should be included in premarket notifications for x-ray imaging devices with indications for use in pediatric populations.
 

Five societies blast CMS with meaningful use opinions

Tuesday, May 08
Helping Hands - 74.91 Kb
It’s no surprise that when a proposed rule on meaningful use is revealed, a litany of organizations want their voices heard. May 7 was the last day to submit comments to the Stage 2 meaningful use proposed rule to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and five organizations have joined the din of democratic speech on the legislation.
 

ASBrS: Time to pull the plug on thermography for breast screening?

Monday, May 07
plug - 60.05 Kb
Infrared thermography is not a reliable breast cancer screening tool, according to a study presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS) annual meeting in Phoenix, May 2-6.
 

Study: Breast brachytherapy may be best for local tumor control

Friday, May 04
cells - 323.90 Kb
Accelerated partial breast irradiation is more effective in preventing local breast cancer recurrence than whole breast irradiation, according to a study presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS) annual meeting in Phoenix, May 2-6.
 

JACR: Radiology falls short on national safety reporting

Friday, May 04
help - 175.08 Kb
The inception of national incident reporting systems in other medical specialties and high-risk industries has produced demonstrable improvements in safety, and radiology could realize similar benefits if the profession implemented such a system. However, medical imaging lags behind in adoption of a national system, according the authors of an article published in the May issue of Journal of American College of Radiology.
 

NEJM: Low-dose radioiodine as efficacious as high dose for thyroid cancer

Thursday, May 03
cancer, molecular imaging - 11.18 Kb
One randomized, prospective study found that the use of recombinant human thyrotropin and low-dose (1.1 GBq) postoperative radioiodine ablation may be sufficient for the management of low-risk thyroid cancer, while another assessing the same dosage of low-dose radioiodine plus human thyrotropin found that this combination was as effective as high-dose radioiodine (3.7 GBq) with a lower rate of adverse events. Both studies were published May 3 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
 

ONC webinar: State HIE efforts turning a corner in 2012

Thursday, May 03
horizon, corner, future - 125.74 Kb
Claudia Williams, MS, director of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC) state health information exchange (HIE) program, offered a review of the ONC’s progress on HIE and its primary goals for 2012 during the National eHealth Collaborative's webinar on “ONC’s National HIE Strategy.”
 

JACR: Straying from Fleischner criteria on pulmonary nodules spurs overmanagement

Thursday, May 03
Checklist - 38.02 Kb
An evaluation of a Pennsylvania-based academic community hospital has revealed that radiologists don’t always adhere to guidelines regarding the incidental finding of solitary pulmonary nodules on CT, often resulting in overmanagement, according to a study published in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
 

Couch potato? PET reveals dopamine responsivity may be to blame

Wednesday, May 02
Lazy man on couch - 62.68 Kb
Differences in dopamine responsivity, identified using PET imaging, have been linked to variation in human choice behavior, specifically the drive to work harder for larger rewards, according to a study published May 2 in the Journal of Neuroscience.
 

JACR: What practices should know about professional component MPPR

Wednesday, May 02
money - 427.49 Kb
Now that the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services has expanded the multiple procedural payment reduction (MPPR) for diagnostic imaging to include the professional component, practices face a number of challenges, including defining what constitutes separate PC sessions and how to best comply with this policy change in day-to-day operations, according to Ezequiel Silva, III, MD, of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
 

CMS will reimburse for TAVR, with restrictions

Tuesday, May 01
TAVR - 58.25 Kb
The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ruled May 1 that it would cover transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) under its Coverage with Evidence Development, but the agency included a series of conditions that must be met to receive reimbursement.
 

JAMA: Breast brachytherapy—proceed with caution

Tuesday, May 01
caution - 139.56 Kb
Older women treated with breast brachytherapy may be less likely to preserve their breasts and face more complications than women undergoing whole-breast irradiation, according to a study published May 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.