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RadRounds Radiology Network's Blog – April 2010 Archive (16)

Merge Healthcare Completes Acquisition of AMICAS

Merge Healthcare Completes Acquisition of AMICAS

Combined company creates global, independent leader in medical imaging software and healthcare IT solutions

MILWAUKEE & BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today’s successful close of the merger agreement between Merge Healthcare Incorporated (NASDAQ: MRGE) and AMICAS, Inc. (formerly NASDAQ: AMCS) creates a leading medical imaging software and healthcare IT solutions provider with strong customer relationships, innovative… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 29, 2010 at 10:14pm — No Comments

iPads for Doctors and Hospitals - Great early adopter move [News Brief]

(CALIFORNIA) -- While most iPad users have been consumers and business guys at this point. A big order of over 100 iPads at a California hospital was just placed! Kaweah Delta Health Care District has just ordered a whole bunch of iPads for their doctors and healthcare specialists for instant and mobile access of radiology/x-ray images, EKG results, and medical records. iPads actually turn out to be a very practical and superior solution when compared to other Windows-based tablets that are… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 21, 2010 at 3:36pm — No Comments

What Turf Battle? Gynecologists versus Interventional Radiologists

(RADROUNDS) - Today, BioSphere Medical announced results regarding a study about the referral relationships between gynecologists and interventional radiologists. The study was published in the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology. The study basically found that gynecologists who refer patients to interventional radiologists for UFE evaluation actually in the end receive in return an average of 19% more patients than they refer. So is there a turf battle at all? This is a clear "win win" as… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 17, 2010 at 9:04pm — No Comments

New Cancer Protocol for Medical Imaging

(DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING) -- "Medical imaging takes key role in revolutionary new cancer protocol"

Imaging will play a pivotal role in a clinical trial that promises to change the way medical research is done, not only in oncology, but throughout medicine.

A multicenter trial, begun last week at the University of California, San Francisco and slated to expand to about 20 cancer centers in the U.S., will use medical images to assess patient response to experimental drugs being… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 14, 2010 at 7:30pm — No Comments

RadNet says it intends to acquire Truxtun, Health Diagnostics

(DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING) -- Los Angeles-based firm RadNet announced on March 15 it entered into letters of intent to acquire Truxtun Radiology Medical Group and the New Jersey operating subsidiary of Health Diagnostics. Health Diagnostics has four locations in New Jersey: Edison, Freehold, Green Brook, and Old Bridge.

In their quarterly report, RadNet says it expects the cash consideration for the acquisitions will be approximately $24.5 million, plus 375,000 shares of common… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 12, 2010 at 7:30pm — No Comments

FDA fires warning shot over smart phone bow

(DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING) -- Smart phones are the tip of a new spear in information technology. They can help you get directions when lost in an unfamiliar city, even turn on the lights at home when you’re blocks away. Radiologists see other uses. They might use mobile devices to receive and send images to each other and to referring physicians. Some are already using them this way. And that’s all fine and good, so long as the makers of the software that runs on these smart phones are careful. Very… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 10, 2010 at 7:30pm — No Comments

Radiology doesn’t escape far reach of healthcare reform legislation

Healthcare reform legislation signed into law last month by President Obama promises to bring sweeping changes to the healthcare system, potentially including the practice of radiology.

Signed into law were the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. Together, they seek to expand access to health insurance (through subsidies, mandates, and market reforms), reduce healthcare spending (primarily through cuts to providers… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 9, 2010 at 7:30pm — 1 Comment

ACR Launches Breast MRI Accreditation Program

April 9, 2010 - Reston, VA ─ On May 10, 2010 the American College of Radiology (ACR) will launch its Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging Accreditation Program (BMRAP). The program was developed by the ACR Committee on Breast MRI Accreditation. Like other ACR accreditation programs, BMRAP enables facilities to improve and maintain the quality of their breast MRI services through a peer-review assessment of their processes,… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 9, 2010 at 9:49am — No Comments

New study questioning screening mammography’s value stirs up opposition

(DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING) -- A new study questioning the efficacy of screening mammography has stirred up an international debate with researchers from around the world challenging its scientific validity.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, compares breast cancer death rates in screened and unscreened regions of Denmark and finds no real difference.

Written by Karsten Jorgensen and Peter Gotzsche from the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen, the study is…

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Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 8, 2010 at 7:30pm — No Comments

RSNA Abstract Deadline Alert

(RADROUNDS) -- Don't forget to submit your abstract for consideration for RSNA 2010. The RSNA abstract submission deadline is April 15th, 2010 at 12 noon. To submit your abstract, please visit the RSNA abstract submission system which is located at the following website: http://abstract1.rsna.org/

radRounds wishes you luck and we look forward to covering your research at this year's RSNA!

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 7, 2010 at 7:28pm — No Comments

Trends in imaging IT forecast changes to radiology practice

(DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING) -- Trends in radiology used to be simple and predictable. They came from within, from technologies and issues related to modalities: MR, CT, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, and radiography. Even the early adoption of PACS was modality-driven, linked inextricably with the adoption of digital x-ray.

Consumer demand for open MR broke this pattern, launching midfield as a viable clinical option. Today radiology seems primed for new developments, this time driven by the… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 4, 2010 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Singing Rad Techs

Check out these singing rad techs! Video below! Do you have any talents or suggest any links on YouTubes to other videos demonstrating the fine extracurricular abilities of RTs?…

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Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 4, 2010 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Philips' novel MR technology overcomes 3T's body pitfalls

(DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING) -- Neurological and musculoskeletal imaging are spectacular at 3T, thanks to its higher signal to noise ratio compared with lower field strengths. Radiologists have long wished the same were true in the rest of the body, where dielectric shading can obscure signs of disease, as in the case of breast and liver cancers. Further limiting the clinical use of 3T has been the potential for excessive tissue heating as measured by 3T's specific absorption rate.

In… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 2, 2010 at 1:30pm — No Comments

MR exhibitors focus on elastography, innovative design

(DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING) -- Physicians have used palpation regularly as a diagnostic technique since the days of the ancient Greeks. Up to now, the potential value of this method has been explored in the imaging field only by ultrasound research teams, but at this year’s ECR technical exhibition, delegates can see for themselves how the same principles may be combined with MRI to improve diagnosis in patients with liver disease.

GE Healthcare is demonstrating a new application developed… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 1, 2010 at 5:30pm — 1 Comment

Shields MRI and Healthcare Group Transforms Medical Records - Patients can "wear" their images

Shields Health Care Group (SHCG) announced the release of a new product that will transform the way it manages certain medical information. Shields…

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Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 1, 2010 at 12:48am — No Comments

Radiologist breaches privacy via PACS and Medical Record System

Make sure you preserve the privacy of your patients and also make sure you have the rights to someone's medical record and images. Most of all, use your own password to access PACS and medical record system. A Griffin Hospital radiologist had previously accessed patient radiology reports and images on their PACS systems using passwords of other employees and radiologists.

The radiologist is no longer working for the radiology group employed by Griffin Hospital. This…

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Added by radRounds Radiology Network on April 1, 2010 at 12:40am — No Comments