Connecting Radiology | Enabling collaboration and professional development

RadRounds Radiology Network's Blog (797)

PACStacker - Featured Radiologist Tool

Introducing to all radRounds Members and Radiologists this very useful tool, PACStacker!

What is PACStacker? PACStacker allows users to create stacks of JPG (and TIF/BMP/etc.) images on powerpoint presentations. During a presentation, the stacks may be scrolled through as on PACS systems, and also windowed/leveled (only to the resolution of the JPEG file.) PACStacker embeds its scripts into the powerpoint presentation so that it may be used on computers without PACStacker… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on July 18, 2009 at 9:30am — No Comments

ACR-RFS NEWS & INFORMATION - July 2009

American College of Radiology Resident and Fellow Section | ACR-RFS NEWS & INFORMATION - July 2009

Moving On and Moving Up

The 2009-2010 RFS Executive Committee would like to congratulate the residency class of 2009 for making it through their visit to the Executive West in Louisville and completing oral boards. We wish the best of luck to all those beginning fellowship and starting out in practice.

"Getting Started" Handbook - Now Available

In… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on July 14, 2009 at 7:23pm — No Comments

Gainesville Hot Seats Radiology Review Course for Radiology Residents (ABR Boards)

From University of Florida Gainesville Hot Seats Course 7/9/09:

Registrations for ALL Gainesville Hot Seats Courses are scheduled to

open on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. (EST)!!! Register for the

course you wish to attend as you will not be allowed to “switch

around” without paying a fee.

You cannot register until this time. We are only accepting ONLINE

registration. Please be sure of your attendance before registering as

any changes or such… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on July 10, 2009 at 8:35am — No Comments

Radiology Secrets (Featured Radiology Book)

Product Description The Secrets Series® is breaking new ground again. This best-selling volume in the very popular Secrets Series® is back in an exciting, updated, and completely redesigned 2nd Edition! With a new, two-color page layout, a more portable size, a list of the "Top 100 Secrets" in radiology, and access to the entire book and more online, it… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on July 8, 2009 at 9:00pm — No Comments

ACR Health Reform Update

The Latest From Washington on the Health Care Reform Proposal

The following is an update of the status of health care reform proposals in both the Senate and House and an outlook on the likely timing and ultimate effective date of health care reform.

Senate

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee released a bill and began marking up in Committee the week of June 15th and expects to finish by week of July 6.

The Senate… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on July 2, 2009 at 10:00pm — No Comments

ACR and North Dakota Department of Health to Distribute Free High-Tech Mammography Education Tool to ND Radiologists

CD-based Product Helps Radiologists Improve Life-saving Mammography Skills Online Rather than on Patients

Reston, Va. — The American College of Radiology (ACR) and the North Dakota Department of Health have partnered to distribute 70 copies of the College’s Mammography Case Review (MCR4) educational CD-ROM free of charge to radiologists in the 43 ACR-accredited mammography facilities throughout North Dakota.

Mammography Case Review (MCR4), a self-evaluation educational… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on July 1, 2009 at 10:00pm — No Comments

ACR Cardiac CT Certificate of Advanced Proficiency Exam

ACR Launches Cardiac CT Certificate of Advanced Proficiency Exam

Reston, Va. — On Sept. 9, 2009, the American College of Radiology (ACR) will offer the inaugural Cardiac CT Certificate of Advanced Proficiency (CCT CoAP) Examination open to all physicians who meet the requisite eligibility requirements and professional experience qualifications.

The rigorous examination, to be offered on a quarterly basis, will be given at the new ACR Education Center, the cutting-edge… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 30, 2009 at 5:15pm — No Comments

KLAS Top-Performing Medical Equipment Companies Announced

OREM, Utah – Jun 15, 2009 – Healthcare research firm KLAS today released its annual rankings of the best-performing medical equipment vendors. Top-ranked companies in seven key market categories – including computed tomography (CT), digital mammography, smart pumps and ultrasound – have earned the 2009 Best in KLAS distinction, signifying their leadership in meeting customer expectations.

Based on evaluations submitted by thousands of healthcare providers throughout the United States… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 29, 2009 at 8:30am — No Comments

ACR Members Urge House Rural Caucus Against Use of RBMs in Medicare and Change in Equipment Utilization Rate at Capitol Hill Briefing

ACR members Cassandra Foens, M.D., medical director of radiation oncology at Covenant Cancer Treatment Center in Waterloo, Iowa, James P. Borgstede, M.D., vice chair of radiology at the University of Colorado, and Michael M. Graham, M.D., Ph.D., vice chair of radiology and director or nuclear medicine at the University of Iowa, urged members of the U.S. House of Representatives Rural Caucus against using radiology benefits managers (RBMs) in the Medicare system and against a proposed imaging… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 27, 2009 at 10:00pm — No Comments

New iPhone Radiology App: SonoAccess from Sonosite

iPhone applications for radiology and medicine are currently being developed by numerous device manufacturers, medical equipment vendors (in radiology and beyond), and healthcare organizations. iPhone appears to be winning significant market share from physicians, radiologists included, as well as other healthcare and medical professionals! In this article, we will feature one example of innovation on the iPhone platform within radiology. A number of… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 25, 2009 at 1:58pm — No Comments

ACR Education Center Celebrates One Year Anniversary

ACR Education Center Celebrates One Year Anniversary

More Than 800 Physicians Attend Radiology’s “Classroom of the Future” in First 12 Months

Curriculum to Expand in the Year Ahead

Reston, Va. — On June 20, 2009, the American College of Radiology Education Center, “radiology’s classroom of the future,” marked the completion of a tremendous first year of operation. During the first 12 months, the state-of-the-art Center enabled more than 800 physicians to… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 23, 2009 at 12:00pm — No Comments

ACR PET Core Laboratory Plays Critical Role in Insuring Reliable Research Results

PET Core Laboratory Plays Critical Role in Insuring Reliable Research Results

Philadelphia (6.19.09) — The positron emission tomography (PET) core laboratory of the American College of Radiology Clinical Research Center serves a critical role ensuring images and image data from PET scanners used in multicenter clinical trial research meet acceptable standards according to a paper published online June 12 in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. This finding was based on a review of the… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 22, 2009 at 12:13pm — No Comments

IMAGE GENTLY CAMPAIGN NAMED TO ASSOCIATIONS ADVANCE AMERICA HONOR ROLL

IMAGE GENTLY CAMPAIGN NAMED TO ASSOCIATIONS ADVANCE AMERICA HONOR ROLL

(JUNE 22, 2009) – The Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging has been named to the 2009 Associations Advance America Honor Roll in recognition of its Image Gently campaign.

The award, sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAO), recognizes the ways nonprofit associations improve the quality of life in America. It honors innovative programs in education, skills… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 22, 2009 at 12:11pm — No Comments

CMS and PQRI: CMS Announces List of Qualified Registries for 2009 PQRI

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced the list of qualified registries for 2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) reporting. Each of these registries has gone through a thorough vetting process to check their capability to provide the required PQRI data elements, ensure correct calculation of reporting and performance rates, and complete transmission of the required information in the requested file format. There are a total of 74 qualified registries… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 21, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

RBMA Data on Reimbursement for Advanced Imaging

(WASHINGTON, DC) - According to the Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA), "Actual imaging use far below president's recommended 95 percent utilization rate for Medicare Based on Medicare reimbursement assumptions, rural imaging centers operate equipment at a 48 percent rate"

President Obama and MedPAC (Medicare Payment Advisory Commission) are working to use a 95% utilization rate in the calculation of radiology reimbursement rates. Based on this latest data, 95% is… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 19, 2009 at 5:43pm — No Comments

Prevent Imaging Cuts: Message from the ACR - Call Your Senator TODAY and Urge Them to Oppose More Imaging Cuts

The pending Senate Finance Committee health reform legislation is expected to contain deep cuts to medical imaging via a change to the practice expense imaging equipment utilization rate assumption for MR and CT from 50 percent to 95 percent. MR and CT procedures will be cut anywhere between 5 percent and 40 percent, in addition to the cuts already put in place by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

Please call both of your Senators and ask that they oppose these drastic reductions.… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 19, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

Medicare Fraud Scam Alert! Urgent Notice from the ACR

FROM THE ACR:

URGENT! Beware of Fraudulent Medicare Faxes

ACR has learned that some physicians’ offices in various states have received faxes from individuals who impersonate representatives of Medicare Fiscal Intermediaries (FI’s) or contractors. The faxes claim that the physicians may risk losing Medicare reimbursement -- unless their offices complete a survey questionnaire or provide an update of their account information within 48 hours and return it via fax to… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 17, 2009 at 1:08pm — No Comments

Obama Healthcare Address - Weekly YouTube Video - Health Care Reform as the Key to Our Fiscal Future

SATURDAY, JUNE 13TH, 2009 AT 12:00 AM

Weekly Address: Health Care Reform as the Key to Our Fiscal Future

Posted by Jesse Lee

The President has long noted that skyrocketing health care costs will be disastrous in terms of our long term national debt unless we pass real reform. In this Weekly Address, the President also explains how he will cover the upfront costs of reform by eliminating overpayments from Medicaid and Medicare and driving down costs contributing to… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 15, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

AMA Obama Address - At 12:15 Today, Obama addressed the American Medical Association (AMA)

(CHICAGO - June 15th, 2009) - The American Medical Association Annual Meeting had a special guest speaker and lecturer, President Barack Obama. As part of his extensive campaign to win the hearts and supports of the largest medical group in the United States, Obama spoke to the AMA constituency which included all specialties of medical practice, including the growing representation of radiology within the AMA.

Obama mentioned key points:

- Importance of Electronic Medical… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 15, 2009 at 12:33pm — No Comments

Radiation exposure and cancer risk from CT scans (Harvard Medical Video)

An interview with Dr. Aaron Sodickson, a radiologist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Sodickson's research was the subject of an article in the March issue of the Harvard Health Letter. This video was featured on YouTube and demonstrates in addition to the importance of the content of the video that social media and online video sites are also tools where radiologists can educate the… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 13, 2009 at 8:30pm — No Comments