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.

The rate of radiology reading errors has not changed in 75 years, despite technology advances, explains Michael Bruno, MD, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, who outlines the reasons why.

Error rates in radiology have not changed in 75 years

Radiology report reading errors are as prevalent as ever. Michael Bruno, MD, of Penn State Hershey Medical Center says it's time for that to change.

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New breast imaging approach provides high sensitivity while reducing false positives: ‘Groundbreaking advancement’

Low-dose positron emission mammography is a molecular imaging technique that also can reduce radiation exposure while avoiding breast compression. 

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CMS beta testing new mammography-related quality measures

The federal agency is aiming to assess radiologist performance in breast cancer screening and improve patient outcomes.

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Financial incentives significantly increase radiologist compliance with quality-improvement initiative

UT Southwestern has introduced a grading template in knee radiograph reports to help decrease the use of unnecessary MR imaging. 

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More with less: Department cuts technologists’ wasted time searching for CT supplies by 62%

The University of Utah Health department of radiology recently tackled a quality improvement project to quash wasted minutes spent seeking syringes and other items in storage. 

William T. Thorwarth ACR American College of Radiology

Is Medicare’s appropriate-use criteria program doomed? ACR chief discusses what went wrong and how it can get back on track

Radiology Business recently sat down with William T. Thorwarth Jr., MD, to discuss the future of value-based care in the specialty and how Congress can help remedy the program of what ails it. 

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Inconsistent imaging: Radiologists letting personal preferences influence decision-making

There is significant variation from one radiologist to the next in suggesting follow-up head and neck imaging, Harvard experts detailed in AJR

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Breast cancer incidence rising among women under 50

This includes elevated diagnosis rates for non-Hispanic Black women in their 20s and 30s, before regular mammography screening starts. 

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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.