Organization

American College Of Radiology


USPSTF urged to reconsider CTC recommendations

Industry News | Wednesday, September 01 2010
The CT Colonography (CTC) Coalition has called on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) to reconsider its recommendation regarding virtual colorectal cancer screening, following the statement issued by the task force maintaining that further research is still required to make a conclusive recommendation regarding CTC.
 

FDA warns of mammo quality performed at Florida facility

Top Stories | Friday, August 27 2010
The FDA has alerted the public to problems associated with the quality of mammograms performed at the Medisound facility in Kissimmee, Fla
 

JACR: Professional guidelines not cut out for decision support

Top Stories | Tuesday, August 17 2010
Radiology professional society guidelines, in and of themselves, do not comprise effective decision support for reducing inappropriate use of medical imaging, opined Ramin Khorasani, MD, MPH, vice chair of radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, in the September issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
 

JACR: Overcoming barriers to radiology incident reporting systems

Top Stories | Wednesday, August 11 2010
Combining national radiology incident reporting systems with appropriate analysis and action can result in significantly safer healthcare. However, optimal deployment requires integration into a wider safety quality and risk management framework, according to an article in this month's Journal of American College of Radiology.
 

FDA-FCC meeting: mHealth must consider imaging requirements

Industry News | Monday, August 02 2010
Enhanced coordination between the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the FDA for future mobile/wireless broadband (mHealth) medical devices and applications--including imaging requirements--were the topic during a roundtable discussion held during a public meeting last week.
 

JACR: MDCT radiation dose slashed by optimization workshops

Top Stories | Friday, July 30 2010
Audit feedback and small-group teaching regarding multidetector CT (MDCT) scanning can help facilities achieve radiation dose reduction, according to a study in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
 

JACR: Rad practice assessment should evaluate nonclinical productivity

Top Stories | Monday, July 26 2010
Nonclinical contributions to the radiology practice are measurable and can play a valuable role in the practice assessment process, according to an article in this month's Journal of the American College of Radiology.
 

Top 25 Connected Facilities: The Refining of Radiology

Cover Story | Friday, July 23 2010
Written by Lisa Fratt
This year’s Top 25 Connected Facilities are an impressive group that has extended the reach of images from PACS to the EMR, either via links to key images or full image sets. Many extend PACS and EMR access to referring physicians and share data with a health information exchange (HIE) internally and/or externally. They are reaping across-the-board benefits—accelerating and improving patient care with anytime/anywhere access to patient data, virtual subspecialty interpretation and razor-thin report turn-around times that hover near 15 minutes for STAT studies. They are cutting costs, increasing productivity and fueling growth.
 

ACR members appointed to medical isotope advisory committee

Executive Announcements | Tuesday, July 20 2010
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has appointed two American College of Radiology (ACR) members to serve on its Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes, which advises NRC on policy and technical issues that arise in the regulation of medical uses of radioactive material in diagnosis and therapy.
 

RTOG appoints Crane as new gastrointestinal cancer chair

Executive Announcements | Monday, July 19 2010
The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), which is funded by the American College of Radiology, has named Christopher H. Crane, MD, as its new chair of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Committee.
 

AHRA: The Economy, Healthcare Reform & the Need for Collaboration Dominate Annual Meeting

Features | Monday, July 19 2010
Written by Gina Narcisi
The setting for the 2010 annual meeting of the AHRA: association for medical imaging management—Washington, D.C.—couldn’t be more appropriate. As always, the meeting will focus on executive-level radiology management strategies, but this year, Beltway initiatives, including healthcare reform and new regulations, will take center stage.
 

JAMA editorial calls for gov't regulation of CT

Industry News | Wednesday, July 14 2010
The U.S. can best address CT overutilization and issues of quality control and training through national legislation, according to an editorial published in the July edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
 

JACR: Proton therapy could raise treatment costs 20%

Top Stories | Tuesday, July 13 2010
Approximately one-third of patients irradiated annually can be treated with proton therapy, which would result in a 20 percent increase in costs across the entire cancer patient population, according to a study published in the July edition of Journal of the American College of Radiology.
 

Colon cancer screening rates can be raised by CTC availability

Industry News | Saturday, July 10 2010
The CTC (CT colonography) Working Group has reiterated the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s call for added colon cancer screening and increased access to non-invasive procedures like CTC to facilitate increased screening rates.
 

ACR Image Metrix names Boparai as clinical project manager

Executive Announcements | Tuesday, July 06 2010
Imaging contract research organization ACR Image Metrix has appointed Jaskaran Boparai, BS, RT, as a clinical project manager.
 

JACR editorial exposes bias in peer-reviewed journals

Top Stories | Friday, July 02 2010
“The marketplace of ideas in peer-reviewed published literature is not a venue that should rely on the principle caveat emptor,” wrote R. James Brenner, MD, JD, in an editorial in the July edition of the Journal of the American College of Radiology. In reality, bias in scientific literature obliges buyers to beware.
 

ACR balks at FDA control of CT; promotes its model

Industry News | Tuesday, June 29 2010
A New England Journal of Medicine article suggesting FDA jurisdiction over CT use has sparked an uproar in the radiology community. The American College of Radiology and Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance offered an alternative solution in a joint statement issued on June 29.
 

SNM issues guidelines for hepatobiliary scintigraphy

Industry News | Friday, June 25 2010
SNM has issued guidelines to assist nuclear medicine practitioners in recommending, performing, interpreting and reporting results of hepatobiliary scintigraphy in adults and children.
 

NCI clinical trials group re-elects chair

Executive Announcements | Friday, June 25 2010
The principal investigators of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group re-elected Walter J. Curran Jr., MD, to a fourth term as group chair.
 

Dollars & Sense: Keeping Your Practice Financially Viable

Features | Monday, June 21 2010
Written by Gina Narcisi
In today’s climate of diminishing reimbursement and the continuous battle to hold onto referrals and contracts, radiology practices are focused on providing superior radiology services and being fiscally fit. While there are many reasons why a radiology practice—especially those offering outpatient imaging services—can falter, practices that are thriving are carefully blending a combination of politics, patient research and preparation for the long-haul.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

Radiology: Rad role may evolve as image-guided biopsies trend up

CT, ultrasound and MRI have helped shift biopsy techniques away from more invasive approaches toward image-guided percutaneous techniques, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology. The trend toward less-invasive approaches translates into enhanced safety and efficiency and could lead to more interaction between patients and radiologists.

CMS Webinar: Incentive payments to offset EHR adoption, not reimburse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) EHR incentive payments are not considered reimbursement for money expended on EHR technology, but are intended to offset the cost associated with adoption and ongoing meaningful use, according to CMS during an Aug. 12 webinar.

CMS webinar: Eligible professionals can expect EHR incentives in 2011

Funding incentives for EHR use is the main goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) meaningful use initiative, and there are incentive programs for both hospitals and eligible professionals, according to Elizabeth Holland, health insurance specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke during a CMS-sponsored webinar Aug. 8.

Webinar: Stage 1 of meaningful use is for quality reporting acclimation

Stage 1 requirements for meaningful use incentives aim to strike a balance between the overall goal of EHR use and widespread adoption, while avoiding added work, said Jonathan Teich, MD, PhD, chief medical informatics officer at Elsevier Health Services, during a HIMSS webinar titled “Meaningful Use: Safety and Quality of Care.”

PORTALS

Advanced Visualization

Molecular Imaging

Integration Tools & Interoperability

More Portal Topics