Alert Archive by Date
September, 2010
The Massachusetts state auditor reported this week that the state’s Medicaid program, MassHealth, “may be losing millions of dollars due to unnecessary advanced imaging services such as MRIs.”
The audit report cited two main reasons for the “unnecessary” expenditures: a lack of state laws or regulations against self-referrals, and a reimbursement rate that’s higher than the federal Medicare reimbursement rate. You … read more »
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Women of Mexican origin have specific breast cancer-related needs and should be the focus of targeted prevention and education efforts, according to a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
The study, published online this week in the journal Cancer, found that:
Among Mexican-origin women with breast cancer who were surveyed, half were diagnosed before age 50. That’s years … read more »
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Written by: Steve Millburg, Filed in: Diagnostic Imaging, Emergency Radiology, Neuroradiology
A $5.3 million medical malpractice settlement was reached last week in a case that involved a patient with strokelike symptoms and a dispute over whether MRI results were read.
Michael T. Mertz, an attorney for the patient’s family, said the settlement would be paid on behalf of radiologist Mark Kelly, MD, and his practice, Winfield Radiology Consultants in Winfield, Illinois; neurologist … read more »
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August, 2010
Written by: Steve Millburg, Filed in: Cardiac Imaging, Diagnostic Imaging, Musculoskeletal Radiology
Coupling existing MRI equipment with new mathematical methods and high-powered computers, German scientists have created MRI films of moving objects, such as a beating heart or a bending joint.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany, have cut the time required for recording MRI images to one 50th of a second—20 milliseconds. This should make MRI … read more »
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Fired and then arrested in quick succession last week, a radiologic technologist has been accused of infecting three patients with hepatitis C while stealing drugs during the course of his work at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.
One of the patients, according to the clinic, died at least partly because of the disease.
Mayo administrators said on Wednesday that they had fired … read more »
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Written by: Steve Millburg, Filed in: Abdominal Imaging, Diagnostic Imaging, Gastrointestinal Imaging
The future of virtual colonoscopy seems … well, let’s just say the images are fuzzy.
Just last month, a study published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute concluded that computed tomographic colonography (CTC), also known as virtual colonoscopy, was “not cost-effective when reimbursed at the same rate as colonoscopy.”
Now comes an Italian study, published online tomorrow in the World … read more »
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A new imaging method using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can noninvasively test for and distinguish among different types of degenerative brain disorders, according to researchers at the universities of Minnesota and Washington.
This could have tremendous implications for both neuroscience researchers and clinical neurology. For example, people at risk of carrying the gene for Huntington’s disease, which usually doesn’t cause symptoms … read more »
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Singer and breast cancer survivor Sheryl Crow has announced the opening of the Sheryl Crow Imaging Center, which she describes as “a state-of-the-art breast imaging center featuring the latest advancements in digital screening and diagnostic imaging technologies.”
Of course it would have the “latest advancements”; after all, it’s in Beverly Hills, California.
Actually, the high-end address is attributable to the fact that … read more »
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Risk management can be devilishly tricky. For example, is a better breast-cancer imaging method worth the increased radiation dosage for the patient?
A new report in the journal Radiology, being published in the October issue and in advance online today, raises that issue. “A single breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) or positron emission mammography (PEM) examination carries a lifetime risk of inducing … read more »
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Written by: Steve Millburg, Filed in: Cardiac Imaging, Chest Radiology, Diagnostic Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Practice Management
Just as medical isotopes from the finally restarted nuclear reactor at Chalk River, Ontario, have begun trickling into the supply pipeline, doctors at a national symposium warned of the possible consequences of the current isotope shortage.
Before it was unexpectedly shut down in May 2009, the Chalk River plant had produced up to a third of the world’s medical isotopes—and half … read more »
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- Ultrasound of the Female Pelvis: Ectopic Pregnancy, Ovarian Masses and Endometrial Carcinoma
- Advances in Spine Imaging
- Virtual Colonoscopy For Colon Cancer Screening Compared With Conventional Colonoscopy
- Imaging of Acute Stroke: Early Detection is Key
- Pancreatic Imaging: Current Techniques
- MRI of the Knee: New Technical Developments
- Computer-Aided Detection in Mammography: Five Key Breast Imaging Questions and Answers
- Renal Masses: Benign or Malignant?
- Pediatric Radiology: Building An Effective Safety Team
- Nuclear Medicine: Emerging Criteria To Determine Success in Treating Cancer
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