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.

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Conserus Workflow Intelligence: providing continuous improvement in a variety of ways

McKesson

For the team at the Froedtert Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin (FH and MCW) in Milwaukee, Conserus Workflow Intelligence is the solution that keeps on giving.

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Alberta Health Services uses blind peer review to drive improved patient outcomes

McKesson

In 2011, officials at Alberta Health Services made a startling discovery. A number of CT studies in a rural community had been misinterpreted, raising questions about patient care.

Radiology call center reduces ED visits, makes primary care physicians happy

1-800 Imaging is a pilot program developed in Canada to help connect primary care physicians (PCPs) with radiologists and help decrease the use emergency departments (EDs). Heidi Schmidt, MD, department of medical imaging at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues wrote about the program’s success for the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

Iterative reconstruction (IR) algorithms can reduce radiation dose for young patients

According to a recent study published by Clinical Radiology, using adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) and low tube voltage (kV) during non-contrast pediatric cranial computed tomography (cCT) can reduce radiation dose by a significant amount.

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3 ways to reduce overuse injury in sonographers

Sonography has become a daily tool for hospitals and imaging centers; it’s inexpensive, relatively quick and the radiation is non-ionizing. However, this growing utilization has increased the workload for individual sonographers, resulting in widespread overuse injuries—as many as 90 percent of sonographers image in pain, according to a 2009 study.

CT is sufficient for certain lung cancer follow-ups

Radiology departments should adopt CT follow-ups of lung cancers that manifest in nonsolid nodules, according to a study published in Radiology. Researchers from the Mount Sinai Center in New York assert that the current standard of a biopsy for a follow-up exam is unnecessary due to the nearly 100 percent survival rate of those who undergo resection.

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The rise in low-value imaging services—and how to reduce them

The U.S. has one of the most inefficient health systems in the world, with waste spending representing $750 billion of annual expenditures. Overtreatment accounts for some $200 billion, including a significant amount of unnecessary diagnostic imaging, according to the American Medical Association. 

Don't forget to hit the gym: Exercise linked to memory

The positives of physical exercise are no secret. But new research published in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience may make you think again about skipping the gym.

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Around the web

Health Imaging
Nearly $800,000 settlement offered to family of man who died during MRI exam

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

Cardiovascular Business
Global shortage of nuclear imaging isotopes may be over

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.

Cardiovascular Business
‘A huge win’: CMS significantly increases Medicare payments for cardiac CT

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.