The FDA has issued a draft guidance outlining its current thinking regarding information that should be included in premarket notifications for x-ray imaging devices with indications for use in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.
Despite the fact that radiation doses have been increasing along with a growing reliance on CT scans for diagnosis and therapy, the secondary cancer risk from multi-detector CT (MDCT) scans is low among older adults, the group subjected to the most frequent scanning, according to a study published in the April issue of the
Journal of the American College of Radiology.
Patients treated at higher-spending hospitals in Canada saw better overall outcomes, according to a study published in the March 14 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers concluded that despite Canada having fewer specialized healthcare resources compared with the U.S., Canadians may be using resources and medical technology more efficiently.
Neuroimaging practices for stroke patients may be unnecessarily costly and redundant, with substantial increases in MRI utilization supplementing, rather than replacing, CT use, according to a study published in the February edition of
Annals of Neurology.
The introduction of a whole-body panscan CT protocol for blunt trauma in the emergency department (ED) raised the proportion of patients exposed to more than 20 mSv of radiation by 8 percent, according to a study published in the February issue of
Emergency Medicine Australasia.
Multidetector CT (MDCT) 3D aortic annular dimensions are predictive of valve leakage following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), according to a study published online Feb. 22 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
There could be a new gold standard for aortic annular evaluation before transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) as 3D CT imaging has been shown to be superior to 2D transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), according to a study published Feb. 22 online in the
Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
An imaging efficiency measure developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reduce CT scans in emergency departments does not accurately determine which hospitals are performing CT scans inappropriately, according to a study published Feb. 23 online in
Annals of Emergency Medicine.
Digital subtraction CT angiography (CTA) should be the preferred noninvasive modality for evaluating intracranial aneurysms given the fact it has a high sensitivity and specificity, and is less invasive and time-consuming than 3D rotational digital subtraction angiography, according to a study published in the February issue of
Radiology.
Cardiac CT (CCT) in the emergency department (ED) is more cost effective in evaluating patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome than the standard of care involving multiple tests and a stress SPECT scan, even when the downstream costs of CCT are considered, according to a study published in the March issue of
Academic Radiology.
The services and allowed charges by cardiologists for treating Medicare patients increased dramatically between 1999 and 2008, according to an analysis published online Jan. 10 in
Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. Much of the growth was linked to noninvasive imaging, with resting echocardiograms and nuclear stress testing fueling the lion’s share of growth.
In the wake of the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), there were concerns that advanced imaging procedures would shift from private offices to hospital outpatient departments and that access would be restricted. According to a study in the January issue of the
Journal of the American College of Radiology, while there hasn’t been a large shift away from offices toward hospitals, the DRA did affect imaging volume and seems to have resulted in some loss of access to nuclear medicine.
The CHEST Foundation has awarded a Roswell Park Cancer Institute research team a $100,000 grant to develop a blood test to help diagnose lung cancer in patients before they undergo a biopsy.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has informed the American College of Radiology that “operational limitations” will prevent them from applying the imaging professional component Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction (MPPR) to group practices beginning Jan. 1, 2012. Therefore, CMS will not apply the professional component MPPR for imaging services performed by separate physicians in the same group practice for 2012.
The U.S. House of Representative passed the Middle Class Tax Relief & Job Creation Act (H.R. 3630) Dec. 13. Among other things, H.R. 3630 prevents an across the board 27 percent cut to Medicare physician reimbursement statutorily required by the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. The bill provides physicians with a 1 percent increase in Medicare payments for 2012 and 2013.
CHICAGO—Iterative reconstruction can significantly decrease the time and number of manual adjustments needed for post-processing of coronary CT angiography (CCTA) compared with traditional filtered back projection (FBP), according to research presented Nov. 28 at the 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
CHICAGO—With the number and frequency of incidentalomas on the rise, researchers have sought to quantify the economic impact of the finding and reported that followup can potentially double the cost of the index study depending on the frequency of the finding and the type of followup, according to a presentation on Nov. 30 at the 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
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Source: Professional Radiology, Inc.
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CHICAGO--Treating patients as VIPs, personal greetings from radiologists and a spa-like atmosphere are the hallmarks of patient-centered radiology facilities, according to a presentation on Nov. 29 at the 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiology Society of North America (RSNA). Using his own facility as an example, Volney Van Dalsem, MD, medical director of outpatient imaging at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., provided some concrete suggestions for making an imaging facility more patient-centered.
CHICAGO—Due to changes in CPT coding and fee schedules that have reduced reimbursement for stress tests and coronary CT angiography (CCTA) in the 2009 through 2011 Medicare fee schedules, triage strategies that begin with stress EKG or stress echocardiography and progress to CCTA (if the stress test is positive) represent the least expensive options, and are more cost-effective relative to strategies that utilize myocardial perfusion scintigraphy, according to a study presented Nov. 30 at the 97th annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
CHICAGO—There are pros and cons to beginning a CT emergency department (ED) program for the evaluation of patients with acute chest pain; however, the undertaking requires asking some strategic questions to establish a clear-cut protocol, according to a Nov. 28 presentation by Harold I. Litt, MD, PhD, chief of cardiovascular imaging at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, at the 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
