The type of primary insurance patients carry affects outcomes of cardiac valve operations in the U.S., according to a study in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. As a result, the authors suggested that the type of primary insurance should be considered as an independent risk factor during preoperative risk stratification and planning.

Guidelines for breast screening mammography should take into account patient-specific risk factors to garner more cost-effective screening, with payors standing to gain from suggesting markedly less frequent screening for lower-risk women, argued the authors of a study published July 4 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Eight hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers collaborated with the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare to eliminate wrong-patient, wrong-procedure and wrong-site surgerieswhich some estimates put as high as 40 incidents per week in the U.S.

Healthcare costs remain on the chopping block and with the future of the industry up in the air, more private cardiology practices have moved toward integrating with hospitals to survive the impending Medicare physician cuts and decreasing revenues. While new patients drive the business of cardiology, it remains a question as to whether supply and demand will meet midway, Patrick White, president of MedAxiom, said during a June 28 webinar outlining procedure volumes, ratios and financials.

Rcadia Medical Imaging has been granted four U.S. patents for the companys COR Analyzer System.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force should withdraw its 2009 guidelines and support annual screening, beginning at the age of 40, for all women, according to a statement issued by the American College of Radiology in response to results of the Swedish Two-County Trial, published in the July issue of Radiology.

The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) said it was dismayed that the Senate Finance Committee would put senior citizens access to imaging, such as CTs and MRIs, at risk by proposing medical imaging reimbursement cuts to pay for the implementation of unrelated trade bills.

Mammography does not increase the breast cancer detection rate when applied as part of a triple assessment protocol in women over age 35 with single quadrant symptoms, based on study findings published in the July edition of British Journal of Surgery. Therefore, the researchers advocated for a more discriminatory approach to the triple assessment rule.