Dear AuntMinnie Member,
A new study from the American College of Radiology Imaging Network's (ACRIN) fall meeting concludes that using coronary CT angiography (CTA) to immediately scan patients who present to the emergency department with chest pain can save money compared to other triage options, including traditional care.
University of Pennsylvania researchers compared immediate coronary CTA to three other options for triaging potential heart patients, including stress testing followed by observation. In nearly 600 patients, the CTA-first protocol proved to be half the cost of stress testing and observation; what's more, patients discharged with negative CT scans have been free of acute cardiac events.
Particularly in the context of other studies being reported this year, the Pennsylvania project could deliver a boost to advocates of a greater role for coronary CTA in triaging chest pain patients. Get more details by clicking here, or visit our Cardiac Imaging Digital Community at cardiac.auntminnie.com.
HSS to buy Emageon
In other news, image management software developer Emageon of Birmingham, AL, has agreed to accept a $62 million acquisition bid from Health Systems Solutions (HSS) of New York City.
Emageon had announced earlier this year that it was examining strategic options after reporting lower revenues in May, a decline attributed to the slowdown in capital spending among healthcare facilities. Learn more about the deal by clicking here, or visit our PACS Digital Community at pacs.auntminnie.com.
