Quality

The focus of quality improvement in healthcare is to bolster performance and processes related to diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Leaders in this space also ensure the proper selection of imaging exams and procedures, and monitor the safety of services, among other duties. Reimbursement programs such as the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) utilize financial incentives to improve quality. This also includes setting and maintaining care quality initiatives, such as the requirements set by the Joint Commission.

FDA Approves: Northwestern Medicine Chicago will be first in U.S. to offer upright CT scanner

A computed tomography (CT) imaging system that allows patients to be scanned while seated has received a 510(k) letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administartion (FDA) allowing P-Cure to market its P-ARTIST CT scanner system.

MMA to have mobile brain scanners on deck

Imagine a blow to the head, swelling, obscured vision and moments later being rushed to a hospital. This scenario is playing out far too often in mixed martial arts (MMA), which is why many are turning to Infrascanners, a mobile device that enables clinicians to detect intracranial bleeding in patients with head trauma.

$100 million hospital expansion put on hold

A $100 million expansion of St. Francis Medical Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has been put on hold by Catholic Health Initiatives to complete previously committed projects across the nation.

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Unconscious detection: Radiologists find abnormalities without realizing it

Many abnormalities missed in clinical practice may, in fact, be detected by radiologists without their knowledge. Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School measured physiological arousal while radiologists read studies, demonstrating the potential for a second-look warning system.

First patient dosed with PyL, a PSMA-targeted PET/CT imaging agent for prostate cancer

Progenics Pharmaceuticals announced that its first patient has been dosed in the company's phase 2/3 clinical trial of PSMA-Target PET/CT imaging agent, PyL, which it will be evaluating for diagnostic accuracy. 

Patients less likely to return to ER within 30 days if they receive CT on initial visit

A retrospective observational study found that patients who came into the emergency department and received a CT exam in their initial visit were less likely to return for a follow-up within 30 days. 

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RSNA 2016: Do radiologists fall victim to gambler's fallacy?

All radiologists are familiar with the justification process for individual scans, weighing the risk of the dose versus the benefits of the imaging. However, modern-day radiologists may be placing too much weight on dose history, according to an RSNA 2016 presentation by Colin Walsh, MSc, a medical physicist at St James’s Hospital in Dublin.

Direct Radiology Launches Automation Intelligence Software to Enhance Workflow

COEUR D’ALENE, IDAHO – Nov. 28, 2016 – Direct Radiology, a leading provider of teleradiology solutions for radiologists and radiology groups throughout the United States, has launched automation intelligence software to enhance its teleradiology offering. The technology developments include Automated Query Retrieve, Monitoring and Automated Uptime, and Reverse DICOM Report Delivery.

Around the web

The patient, who was being cared for in the ICU, was not accompanied or monitored by nursing staff during his exam, despite being sedated.

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.