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April 2009 Blog Posts (42)

News Brief: Nighthawk downgraded by major rating company (Moody's)

News Alert: 4/17/09 - (STOCK TICKER SYMBOL: NWHK) Nighthawk has been downgraded by Moody's.

For more NWHK News, please visit Google Finance NWHK page.

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 19, 2009 at 9:49pm — No Comments

Frequent CT surveillance of endovascular aneurysm repair may be unjustified

April 17, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Frequent CT surveillance of endovascular aneurysm repair may be unjustified By H.A. Abella More than eight years of data from nearly 500 patients suggest that frequent monitoring with CT to look for complications after endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms is unnecessary and that it could be done instead with ultrasound. While open surgery remains the standard of care for patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm, studies establishing the comparative… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 17, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

ACR and RBMA Create Best Practices for Radiology Benefits Management Programs

ACR and RBMA Create Best Practices for Radiology Benefits Management Programs

http://www.acr.org/HomePageCategories/News/ACRNewsCenter/ACRRBMARBMGuidelines.aspx

The ACR and RBMA have developed best practice guidelines for third-party payors, managed care organizations (MCOs), radiology benefit managers (RBMs), and imaging providers for use when implementing or evaluating a… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 16, 2009 at 2:00pm — No Comments

Laser ablation plus MR thermometry boosts survival rate for cancer patients

April 16, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Laser ablation plus MR thermometry boosts survival rate for cancer patients By Rebekah Moan Colorectal cancer patients are known to survive longer if their liver metastases are removed. New research shows one method for killing cancer cells -- laser ablation guided by MR thermometry -- is safe and effective and leads to a better survival than other methods. If liver metastases from colorectal cancer cannot be removed surgically, other options include laser… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 16, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Report from ISMRM: Organizers emphasize clinical themes

April 15, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Report from ISMRM: Organizers emphasize clinical themes By James Brice Innovation has always been the name of the game for the annual meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. The 17th annual meeting beginning Saturday in Honolulu again showcases MRI science in action. But for this meeting, organizers added new features emphasizing MRI's clinical applications and capitalizing on new communications technologies to encourage… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 15, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

RadiologyArt.com: More X-ray art covered by Reuters!

Posted for educational purposes. Source: Reuters.

Ben Gruber of Reuters reports that "Ever wonder what the inside of a Big Mac looks like before you take it out of the box, or whether a barbie doll is really as well put together as she appears. Satre Stuelke did, and the result is a creation that has allowed him to combine his love for art and… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 14, 2009 at 2:25pm — No Comments

Radiology’s shine fades a bit among medical students

April 14, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Radiology’s shine fades a bit among medical students By H.A. Abella Radiology may no longer be the fairest of all the possible specialty choices for U.S. medical school seniors, according to results of the 2009 National Residency Matching Program. Still, it remains within the top 10 most popular medical specialties. Radiology was the fifth most popular specialty back in 2007 among U.S. senior med students who participated in the NRMP program. By 2009, the… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 14, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

CT use in pregnant women skyrockets at Rhode Island hospital

April 13, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. CT use in pregnant women skyrockets at Rhode Island hospital By Rebekah Moan The CT imaging rate for pregnant women at two hospitals affiliated with Brown University's medical school grew at an explosive 25.3% annual rate from 1997 and 2006, while medical imaging involving ionizing radiation for this population more than doubled. A study that in appeared in March on the online edition of Radiology raised concern among radiologists who have suspected that… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 13, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Easter Bunny appears in vascular ultrasound exam

April 10, 2009 Easter Bunny appears in vascular ultrasound exam By James Brice Dr. Greg Rose has uncovered radiological proof that the Easter Bunny is more than a figment of the popular imagination. Mr. Bunny appeared while Rose, a radiologist and CEO of NightRays, was performing early morning preliminary readings via teleradiology on Feb. 21 for Clear Lake Regional Medical Center in Webster, TX. The medium of choice for the appearance was a vascular ultrasound study performed on a 36-year-old… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 10, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Harsh economics dampen appetite for healthcare IT

April 8, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Harsh economics dampen appetite for healthcare IT by Greg Freiherr The weakened U.S. economy is slowing the pace of growth in healthcare IT, according to a survey conducted by HIMSS. Only a little more than half (55%) of the 304 respondents participating in the 20th annual HIMSS Leadership Survey said their IT budgets would increase, compared to 78% last year. This year about 42% said their staffing levels would increase, down from 68% last year. Survey… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 9, 2009 at 11:50pm — No Comments

changing scenario for radiologist

from being the 'guides' to 'to be guided' professionals.
we have come a long way from being independent to being dependent. am i correct?????

Added by sharanabasappa on April 9, 2009 at 2:37am — No Comments

CT reveals Queen Nefertiti’s nose job

April 8, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. CT reveals Queen Nefertiti’s nose job By Rebekah Moan Plastic surgery may have some early roots. German physicians have scanned the bust of Queen Nefertiti of Egypt with CT, showing marked differences between an inner core -- that more accurately depicts the queen -- and the outer layer where her nose bump is smoothed and her wrinkles are erased. …

Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 8, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Report from HIMSS: Laptops and mobile communications devices create security nightmare

April 7, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Report from HIMSS: Laptops and mobile communications devices create security nightmare By Greg Freiherr Procedures to ensure patient privacy don't do much if the patient data end up on portable electronics. This happens more commonly than might be expected, according to a survey reported at the 2009 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society meeting in Chicago. Credant Technologies, a Dallas-based firm specializing in data protection solutions,… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 7, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

ACR NOPR Data Enables CMS to Cover PET Scans for the Majority of Medicare Cancer Patients

Coverage of Life-saving and Extending PET Scans a Victory for Seniors Nationwide

Philadelphia — The American College of Radiology (ACR) strongly supports the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ determination to significantly expand coverage of positron emission tomography (PET) scans performed in both the initial and subsequent evaluation of patients with many types of cancer. The CMS move is based on significant clinical evidence regarding the effectiveness of PET for… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 6, 2009 at 5:17pm — No Comments

ACR Chair Thrall Selected to Serve on Advisory Committee to the Director of NIH

ACR Chair Thrall Selected to Serve on Advisory Committee to the Director of NIH

Reston, Va. – James H. Thrall, M.D., FACR, chair of the American College of Radiology Board of Chancellors, Radiologist-in-Chief, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, has been selected to serve as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Since 1966, the ACD has advised the NIH Director on policy and… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 6, 2009 at 5:15pm — No Comments

Medicare approves coverage of FDG-PET for 11 cancers

April 6, 2009 Medicare approves coverage of FDG-PET for 11 cancers By H.A. Abella The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has opened a new chapter in the practice of positron emission tomography with the announcement for a national Medicare payment policy that expands coverage of PET scans in the initial treatment strategy of most solid cancers and for myeloma. Nuclear physicians immediately praised the long awaited decision. According to the decision memo published April 3, CMS will… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 6, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Broader Medicare PET coverage promises to cut costs, streamline patient management

April 6, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Broader Medicare PET coverage promises to cut costs, streamline patient management By H.A. Abella Nuclear physicians praised the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' decision to expand Medicare coverage of PET scans in the initial treatment strategy of most solid cancers and myeloma. More than a third of Medicare patients will now be able to get PET scans without going through the National Oncologic PET Registry. "The vast majority of Medicare patients… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 6, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Obama budget makes no assumptions about Medicare sustainable growth rate cuts

April 3, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Obama budget makes no assumptions about Medicare sustainable growth rate cuts By James Brice The $3.5 trillion spending plan passed by the House and Senate April 2 reflects the recent reality of applying the Medicare sustainable growth rate policy on physician fees. It anticipates that Congress will again intervene to stave off the pending 21% cut to physician fees next year and actually estimates that payments will grow by $147.1 billion from 2010 to 2014. The… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 3, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Introducing the "Radiforce" 56 inch full-HD monitor

As featured on CrunchGear, there will be a new toy for radiologists (and perhaps even cardiologists) available soon, there is going to be a beautiful and high performance monitor that can push a resolution of 3840×2160.

As CrunchGear states "The enormous monitor is ostensibly for medical imaging, where huge high-res… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 2, 2009 at 11:00pm — No Comments

AIUM preview: Sonologists bring annual convention to Facebook

April 2, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. AIUM preview: Sonologists bring annual convention to Facebook By H.A. Abella The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine has launched a social networking site to allow attendees to hook up, discuss, and even blog before, during, and after the group's 2009 meeting in New York City starting April 2. At least a dozen ultrasound subspecialties are now linked through the site, as well as through Facebook and Twitter. AIUM members deem their clinical practice… Continue

Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 2, 2009 at 2:00pm — No Comments