Alessandra Simmons's Blog (59)

Inappropriate imaging for both low-risk prostate and low-risk breast cancers were frequently performed before the initiation of the Choosing Wisely campaign, according to a study published in JAMA Oncology. Researchers from the University School of Medicine in New York, NY,…

Women invited to participate in breast cancer screening should be informed about issues related to possible overdetection of cancer, according to a study published in The BMJ. Researchers from the U.K. performed an online survey with 1,000 men and women to determine the level of overdetection people…

CHICAGO — While changes, and challenges, in the U.S. health care delivery system have typically been attributed to the Affordable Care Act, many of these changes would have happened regardless, said Thomas W. Greeson, JD, at RSNA 2014. The ACA accelerated this activity, Greeson noted, but it has long been a suspicion that the contributor, or possibly the culprit,…

Every other week, Diagnostic Imaging puts you to the test with Image IQs. You receive a little clinical history (probably more than you normally see!) and the imaging exam(s) and guess the diagnosis. Most of the time, you nail it. But sometimes, the finding is rare or the diagnosis just escapes you. So we’re giving you a second chance. We’ve gathered the five…

Breast density notification laws have been put into effect in 21 states. A breast density notification law requires that physicians notify women who have undergone mammography and were found to have dense breast tissue.

The intent of such a law was to give women the necessary information to decide on further action if they had dense breast tissue. Dense breast tissue makes it harder to identify cancer on a mammogram and may also be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer,…

Ask any of your peers, and they’ll likely agree – health care as you’ve known it is changing. The patient population has ballooned under the Affordable Care Act. Larger practices and health systems are gobbling up competitors. And, reimbursement dollars are tighter. It’s never been more important to make yourself stand out from the…

Check out this hilarious radiology comic from Diagnostic Imaging celebrating Throwback Thursday #TBT.  

Humor is a great stress reliever. Do you and your colleagues celebrate hashtag trends or incorporate other forms of humor into your work…

Magnetic resonance imaging after diagnosis of an indeterminate pelvic mass reduces the number of unnecessary surgeries or long-term follow up, according to a study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Researchers from Yale University in New Haven, CT…

No one can be future-proof, but if radiologists want to have a future, they better give it a try, at least according to experts at ECR 2015. The future is an abstract challenge for radiology, no one is really sure where the radiologist fits in, or if they fit in at all.

But there’s hope, according to Dr. Nikola H. Strickland, consultant radiologist, Imperial…

If you listen to the medical community, there’s a physician shortage brewing. By 2020, the country will need 91,500 additional doctors. By 2025, that figure rises to 130,600 according to the Association of American Medical Colleges…

A lot of people that aren’t in health care think that the Affordable Care Act was put in place to insure the uninsured, but its real goal is to lower the cost of health care from the government’s perspective, according to Brian Baker of Carealytics, in an interview with Diagnostic Imaging at AHRA 2014. The trend of growth in the population and the cost of…

Lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography may substantially reduce the false-positive result rate, but sensitivity is also decreased, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Source: UBM Partner Site Diagnostic Imaging - For…

On January 26, 2015 the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced two ambitious goals that have a significant impact on radiology: One half of all Medicare payment to physicians and hospitals will be made through alternative payment models (ie, medical homes and accountable care organizations) by 2018 and 85% of all fee-for-service payments will be tied to…

Imagine that you have a referring physician complaining to the chair of the radiology department: they can’t get their patients in for an MR scan. He recommends that your department buy a new MR scanner. Your technologist says they’re really busy all day, which could also mean the department could benefit from a new MR scanner

Source: UBM…

CHICAGO — Thirty-one percent of radiologists in a 2013 study published in Radiology had at least one malpractice claim in their career. At RSNA 2014, Kelly Yousem, a 25-year veteran attorney doing plaintiff’s medical malpractice, educated radiologists about the medical malpractice process.

Source: UBM Partner Site Diagnostic Imaging - For full article, please click…

They did what?! Click to view 11 costly mistakes providers have made when dealing with confidential patient information. 

Source: UBM Partner Site Diagnostic Imaging - For full article, please click here.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Koning Breast CT (KBCT) and KBCT-guided biopsy bracket, Koning Corporation announced. KBCT is the first commercially available 3D breast scanner designed to image the entire breast with a single scan and no compression of the breast tissue, Koning said in a release. The procedure is quick, it takes 10 seconds for the system to acquire hundreds of images, Koning said.

Source: UBM Partner Site Diagnostic Imaging…

CHICAGO — “Some folks might think that I’m just a paranoid old guy who feels that the world is coming to an end and we had a great ride…but there are major disruptive changes in health care on the horizon, and unless we understand them and respond, I think, personally, the future of our profession is in jeopardy,” Paul Berger, MD, chairman, Partners in the Imaging Enterprise, and past founder and former chairman of NightHawk Radiology, said at RSNA…

With health care reform and payment model changes looming, there is a significant demand for the pioneers that are going to lead radiology into the future. Diagnostic Imaging spoke with James H. Thrall, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital at RSNA 2014 to gain some insight on what it takes to be a leader in…