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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Private equity-backed healthcare services bring more harm than good to patients, report reveals

Given the rapid growth of PE ownership in healthcare, the report's concerning data give pause to how such entities should be regulated, experts involved in the work suggested.

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Only 38% of patients receive appropriate follow-up care for incidental pulmonary nodules

The findings were derived from 2,500 cases diagnosed between 2018-2019 at an urban tertiary care center and followed for two years afterward.

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Physician assistants order imaging at rates higher than primary care doctors

Measures to optimize the value of radiology services will be necessary as the strained PCP workforce is increasingly augmented by other providers, experts wrote in JACR

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Eyeing overutilization, health system schools fledgling internists in Imaging Wisely

Following the intervention, learners demonstrated improved and sustained knowledge about high-value image ordering, experts wrote in JACR

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American College of Radiology tells CMS new quality measure would pose too much burden

The agency is proposing a new electronic clinical quality measure for inpatients tied to "excessive radiation dose or inadequate image quality." 

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Nurse navigators help radiology departments contribute to value-based care, study charges

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has seen marked gains in certain key metrics after launching its imaging navigator role in 2018. 

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How CT creates barrier to treating pulmonary embolism patients in cheaper outpatient settings

Rather than being discharged, low-risk PE patients often receive unnecessary additional services and overnight stays, experts wrote in JAMA.

Researchers question FFR-CT’s value compared to other cardiac imaging options

FFR-CT has grown in popularity due its ability to provide noninvasive evaluations of patients being considered for revascularization procedures. According to a new study in JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, however, stress imaging strategies may still provide more value in certain scenarios. 

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The ACR hopes these changes, including the addition of diagnostic performance feedback, will help reduce the number of patients with incidental nodules lost to follow-up each year.

And it can do so with almost 100% accuracy as a first reader, according to a new large-scale analysis.

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