Practice Management

Practice management involves overseeing all business aspects of a medical practice including financials, human resources, information technology, compliance, marketing and operations.

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3 ways radiologists can fend off repetitive stress injury

Radiologists reading digital imaging exams move their mouses much more and tap their keypads far less than computer-bound nonradiologist workers, and that’s just one of several factors contributing to the rise of repetitive stress injuries (RSIs) in radiologists.

How is interpreting a CT for Joe not ‘Joe-centered’ radiology?

As the concept of patient-centered radiology becomes a ubiquitous touchpoint within the profession, some are questioning what, exactly, “PCR” consists of—both as an ideal and in real-world, daily practice.

Siemens softens advice on hacker-vulnerable imaging systems

Following last week’s advisory from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warning that four medical-imaging systems made by Siemens may be vulnerable to cyberattack, the company has announced it will issue software fixes by the end of this month.

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Documentation of radiologist-referrer consults found lacking

Searching three years’ worth of physicians’ notes in their academic medical center’s EMR, researchers at NYU Langone found that many informal consultations between referrers and radiologists had been captured incompletely or inadequately, with potential implications for patient management. In a paper published online in the American Journal of Roentgenology, they recommend radiology practices draw up policies to head off such communications lapses.

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Radiology department diagnoses its own MRI inefficiencies, prescribes remedies

Upon examining various performance metrics on their MRI patient throughput, members of the radiology department at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center found they were losing close to one-third of their time to delays, bottlenecks or other avoidable inefficiencies.

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Community EDs cut needless trauma CT using Canadian rule

After implementing an established rule for selecting head CT for trauma patients, a 13-site set of Kaiser Permanente community EDs in Southern California reduced avoidable head CT utilization by 5.3 percent while improving their performance on injury identification, according to a study published online July 21 in Annals of Emergency Medicine.

ACR updates contrast-media guide

Spotlighting fresh content on administering contrast to pregnant patients, updated patient-selection strategies and an entirely new chapter on contrast-enhanced ultrasound, the American College of Radiology on July 12 announced the latest version of its Manual on Contrast Media.

Small radiology bill may turn to pay dirt for perturbed patient

A patient who failed to pay a $25 x-ray bill may walk away with tens of thousands of dollars in damages for the haranguing to which he says he was subsequently subjected by a dogged third-party debt collector.

Around the web

Positron, a New York-based nuclear imaging company, will now provide Upbeat Cardiology Solutions with advanced PET/CT systems and services. 

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.