ST. LOUIS (September 22, 2014) – Mallinckrodt (NYSE: MNK) today announced the U.S. launch of the OptiSyncTM data management system as a new technology in its Global Medical Imaging segment. The OptiSync system is designed to help healthcare professionals efficiently collect and analyze radiology data from when a patient undergoes a contrast media-enhanced computed tomography (CT) diagnostic imaging procedure.

Propelled by everything from regulatory requirements to patient centricity, all roads point toward direct communications with patients by radiologists.

TUSTIN, Calif., August 12, 2014 – Providing hospitals with resources and support to develop and improve patient care programs, AHRA: The Association for Medical Imaging Management announces the seventh year of its Putting Patients First Program. Putting Patients First grants enable healthcare facilities to fund programs, training or seminars aimed at improving patient care and safety and customizing treatment in CT, MR, Ultrasound, X-ray and Vascular imaging. The grants are funded by an unrestricted educational grant from Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.

In a largest-of-its-kind study published in the journal Circulation, researchers quantified cumulative radiation doses in 337 pediatric heart patients and predicted lifetime cancer risks based on exposure levels.

Nearly half of all radiologists are reporting PQRS data, according to the ACR, and now they can do so using the ACR’s National Radiology Data Registry (NRDR).  If they register by June 30, the annual reporting fee is waived for individual radiologists whose practices/facilities are registered participants.

Forget the 98,000 preventable deaths that occur in hospitals: The latest number is between 200,000 and 300,000, making medical error the third leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer.

The American College of Radiology has released its first edition of the Lung Imaging Reporting and Data System (Lung-RAD®), a quality assurance tool for the standardized reporting of lung-cancer CT screening studies. A key component in a lung-cancer screening infrastructure being developed by the ACR, Lung-RADS® features a number-based rating method similar to the college’s successful BI-RADS® for mammography reporting.

On the short list of reasons to use peer review as your practice quality improvement (PQI) project: You probably have to do three projects in the next decade.