WASHINGTON, D.C.Although quantitative imaging is radiologys new frontier, it is not actively used now because its complicated. Informatics can help radiology move forward with quantitative imaging, said Daniel L. Rubin, MD, assistant professor of radiology Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, Calif., last week during the annual meeting of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM).

Researchers discussed the effect that breathing irregularities have on the accuracy of 4D PET scans and outlined a PET imaging method that reduces motion artifacts or image blurring arising from respiratory motion, according to a study presented this week at SNM's 58th annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas. The researchers said that non-gated PET imaging with 4D CT may be useful for imaging patients who do not benefit from the use of respiratory gating, most notably patients with erratic breathing.

WASHINGTON, D.C.Radiology is not the only specialty with IT management issuesbut for now, it may be the only one that can justify large-scale digital storage, according to a June 4 presentation at the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM).

A little more than a year after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued its interim final rule on e-prescribing controlled substances, 32 states have rules in place that allow electronic transmission of controlled substances, according to the ePrescribing Law Survey, a compendium of state and federal pharmacy statutes and regulations, updated by Point-of-Care Partners (POCP).

Targeting patients undergoing medical imaging procedures or radiation therapy, legislation introduced June 2 by U.S. Reps. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) and John Barrow (D-Ga), would set new education and certification standards for technical medical professionals performing imaging, if ratified. The CARE Act (or Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility and Excellence in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Act), is sponsored by a bipartisan group of 19 members of the House of Representatives.

WASHINGTON, D.C.The CT dose of an individual scan may be just a drop in a bucket, but at present, radiologists know neither the size of the drop nor the rate of emission, making dose tracking inaccurate and dose reduction all the more essential, according to a radiation dose safety session presented June 2 at the annual conference for the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM).

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is seeking comments on approaches that will enable providers and other healthcare entities to obtain and manage digital certificates that are cross-certified with the Federal Bridge, according to Arien Malec, coordinator of the ONCs Standards & Interoperability Framework.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) May 31 announced the reduction of premiums and the easing of eligibility standards for the federal Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP), a program provided under the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act to insure patients who have been denied private coverage due to pre-existing conditions.