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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Novel PET radioligand shows potential to assess Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s

A radiopharmaceutical tool developed by German and Swiss scientists has the potential to guide and assess treatment of neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis with PET imaging.

How millennials are changing the way radiology is taught in med schools

Millennials are changing the way medical educators are teaching radiology—and there’s a lot to keep up with, Harvard Medical physician Priscilla J. Slanetz, MD, MPH, wrote in an Academic Radiology editorial last week.

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Lower screening mammography recall rates associated with higher interval cancer rates

Lower screening mammography recall rates are associated with higher rates of breast cancers detected between screenings, according to a new study published in Radiology. Does this relationship between recall rates and interval cancers mean breast cancer screening programs should establish a minimum recall rate?

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Latest ACR Appropriateness Criteria includes 3 new, 9 revised topics

The American College of Radiology (ACR) released the latest edition of its ACR Appropriateness Criteria on Monday, April 2, noting it has now been 25 years since the college released its first appropriateness criteria in 1993.

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Could grassroots marketing be the key to radiology education?

The future of radiology education could lie in a more personal approach to marketing, three medical experts are suggesting in this month’s edition of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

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12 medical societies endorse new guidelines for stroke interventions

The Society of Intervention Radiology (SIR) and 11 other medical societies have endorsed revised guidelines for the nonsurgical, image-guided interventional treatment of acute ischemic stroke.

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Reduced-dose radiotherapy as effective as full dose in breast cancer patients—with fewer side effects

Women who opt for partial or lower-dose radiotherapy during breast cancer treatment may experience fewer side effects while maintaining the efficacy of a full dose, researchers reported at the European Breast Cancer Conference in Barcelona this month.

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84% of chest, abdominal, pelvic CTs imaged off-center

The majority of chest, abdominal and pelvic CTs are scanned off-center—a phenomenon that could impact both dose and image quality, a group of Atlanta researchers reported this month in Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology.

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.