CHICAGO--Recommendations for additional testing or imaging due to extra-colonic findings for Medicare patients should not be a concern for CT colonography (CTC) reimbursement, according to a study presented Nov. 29 at the annual Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conference.

CHICAGO--Dual-energy CT (DECT) offers enhanced disease characterization, high diagnostic yield and powerful clinical applications, often with lower radiation doses, according to a presentation given Nov. 30 at the 96th annual scientific meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

CHICAGOPhysicians must be careful when creating relationships with industry and ensure that professional judgments do not harbor conflicts of interests, and professional organizations must create policies against these relationships that are effective in hindering them, according to a presentation Nov. 30 at the 96th annual Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) scientific meeting.

CHICAGO--Jeffrey H. Newhouse, MD, director of the division of abdominal imaging at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, spoke with Health Imaging News about contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN), and its potential exaggerated risk with IV contrast injections, especially comapred with cardiac cath procedures, due to improper appropriate controls in many clinical trials that assessed its risk.

CHICAGO--With a 30 percent Medicare cut looming, hospitals and radiology practices should start thinking about organizational shifts, particularly integrating accountable care organizations (ACOs) into practice, Christopher G. Ullrich, MD, a radiologist at Charlotte Radiology in Monroe, N.C., said during a presentation Nov. 30 at the annual Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) meeting.

CHICAGO--Integrating a simple checklist before surgery and using a team-based approach to patient care can improve outcomes, but something must be done to slash the increasing healthcare costs, Atul Gawande, MD, a general and endocrine surgeon at the Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, a writer for the New Yorker, and a professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, said during the Eugene P. Pendergrass New HORIZONs lecture Nov. 29 at the 96th annual scientific meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

CHICAGORadiologists and emergency department (ED) physicians can improve their sometimes rocky relationships with personal communication and concise, rapid fire results, according to the What the Referring Physician Needs to Know session presented Nov. 28 at the 96th annual scientific meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

Faced with reimbursement cuts and pushed to convert to digital records, imaging centers are under the gun to maintain their market share. Smart centers are extending the value of PACS with digital dashboards, web-based tools and more. Health Imaging & IT spoke with a few financially fit imaging centers to discuss how they are optimizing PACS.