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.

‘Radiology failures, misdiagnosed fractures’ blamed in 2 wrongful assumptions of child battery

In the U.K., two instances of evidently inept work by radiologists are inadvertently spotlighting the value of subspecialized image interpretation in socially sensitive patient cases.

Patient access to radiology reports: 2 angles

Should patients read their radiology reports ahead of the doctor who ordered the exam? That’s not a new question. It was supposed to have been settled in the affirmative by the 21st Century Cures Act.

Radiation oncology relatively low in ‘hazardous attitudes,’ although ‘macho’ makes the radar

The Federal Aviation Administration assesses pilots for five “hazardous attitudes” that may forewarn of risky behaviors in the air. Therapeutic radiology researchers have adapted the FAA scale for radiation oncologists making treatment decisions.

Formidable tumors tamed by genetically modified … herpes?

A genetically engineered iteration of the herpes simplex virus has beaten back several advanced cancers in an early trial.

Could a repurposed drug break a centurylong stalemate in the war on cancer?

A pharmaceutical compound approved 21 years ago to treat breast cancer in postmenopausal women is showing fresh promise as a therapy for glioblastomas. 

4D ultrasound shows preborn humans ‘laughing’ over carrots, ‘crying’ over kale

Researchers in the U.K. have documented fetuses smiling when exposed to sweet flavors and frowning over bitter tastes.

Written PDAs a quick, easy way to ‘enhance IR patients’ sense of empowerment’

Interventional radiology patients who receive this type of patient decision aid for consent purposes tend to feel more heard and better informed.

Long and longer: Imaging wait times in Canada

Prior to the arrival of COVID-19 in early 2020, Canadian patients waited nearly three months for an MRI and more than 11 weeks for a CT. Things have only gotten worse since then.

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.