The Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of Bayer’s Gadavist® (gadobutrol) injection as a magnetic resonance contrast agent for pediatric patients under the age of two.

Though I’m sure much of the news we write about this year will be unexpected, there are a handful of stories I’m excited to watch develop.

One of the topics weighing heavily on the minds of those providers who perused all the new CT imaging equipment on display at RSNA 2014 was the new legislation dedicated to medical imaging as it relates to making provisions to more strictly control CT dosage requirements under NEMA Standard XR-29-2013.

Last week CMS announced that more than 257,000 physicians—that’s more than half of all docs treating Medicare patients—will be docked 1 percent in 2015 for failing to meet their 2013 Meaningful Use goals. The fallout from the federal program’s critics was swift and pointed. This week imagingBiz asked ACR to weigh in on behalf of radiologists. 

When given control of their own health records in electronic format, patients are ready and willing to share their info with their own doctor or nurse. But they stubbornly resist letting other, equally critical members of the care team in on the conversation. 

The single most interesting and, in retrospect, forward-looking comment I heard at RSNA wasn’t spoken during the several sessions and press conferences I attended, enlightening and fascinating as those were. It didn’t rise above the drone of the exhibit halls, exciting as so many of the product displays and booth discussions proved to be. 

ACR has asked CMS to revise its guidelines for low-dose CT (LDCT) lung cancer screening for the Medicare population.

As the year winds down and thoughts turn to 2015, it’s always a good idea to look back and review where we have been and what has transpired since we passed this way before. For radiology, 2014 was a year of great importance.