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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Common reasons radiologists missed head and neck cancer diagnoses on cross-sectional imaging

Perceptual errors plague experienced and novice readers and can stem from factors including high work volumes, fatigue and workplace distractions, according to new research.

Use of unnecessary imaging for lower back pain drops among commercially insured

During a nine-year time span, the use of imaging for LBP fell by 14 percentage points, with a noteworthy drop in costs, too.

quality excellence star stethoscope

Consumers willing to pay more for higher quality imaging services, new survey suggests

The findings are based on a survey of more than 1,000 potential patients, conducted using an online crowdsourcing platform. 

Price shopping transparency

Wide variation in musculoskeletal imaging charges, including 74-fold difference for one CT exam

Stanford University experts analyzed price transparency data from 250 of the nation's top hospitals, sharing their work in AJR. 

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Use of ‘financial coping strategies’ common among patients unable to shoulder high imaging costs

Responses to hefty out-of-pocket costs include decreasing household spending, dipping into savings, or taking on debt, experts detailed in JACR. 

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Imaging among the costliest, most prevalent low-value services delivered at children’s hospitals

CT for abdominal pain was the No. 1 priciest low-value service in the ED, tallying $1.8M in costs in 2019. 

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Independent radiologists, who bill separately for imaging, muddying hospital price transparency efforts

Reimbursement for such practitioners is often nontrivial and could create a substantial financial burden for patients who don't expect to receive additional bills, experts wrote in JAMA. 

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Common causes of ‘emotional harm’ adverse events in the radiology department

Investigations of this phenomenon in the specialty are lacking and likely underreported, experts detailed in Radiology. 

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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.