Hospitals nationwide are wasting time and money on unnecessary hormone receptor tests for breast cancer patients, according to the results of a Johns Hopkins study.

Citing 3D imaging as an example of a high-cost medical technology with unclear benefits to patients, the authors of a review article posted August 8 in the Harvard Business Review make the case that gee-whiz advances have passed their peak as means of achieving optimal safety and efficacy.

Gleaming and modern, 172-bed Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay, Oregon, operates the largest outpatient imaging center on the southern Oregon coast—and owns a colorful, sometimes rocky history worthy of beyond-local coverage in words and images. 

Reflecting a national trend, freestanding emergency departments are sprouting in the Lone Star State, where there are now more than 200. 

Envisioned by the Institute of Medicine back in 2001 and systematized by the Joint Commission five years later, PFACs—patient and family advisory councils—are now a fixture in most U.S. hospitals. Scope, mission and vision vary widely, but these groups’ essential aim is tapping the customer’s perspective in order to improve everything from waiting-room design to EMR selection. 

If more than 2,500 physicians responding to a national survey reflect the changing state of clinical decision-making, MRI is frequently getting rationed due to doctors’ concerns about cost. In fact, only drug prescriptions are curtailed more—and not by much. 

Imaging experts from around the country are in Nashville for the Association for Medical Imaging Management’s (AHRA) Annual Meeting, but the deadline to apply to speak at the organization’s  Fall Conference  will crop up only a couple of weeks later.  

In some of the more remote counties in the Badger State, telemedicine—including teleradiology—enables small hospitals to serve up modern medicine for rural residents close to where they live.