Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Is imaging overused in the emergency department? If you're a radiologist, you may already know the answer to that question, but the U.S. government decided to find out for itself, with the results of its investigation released this week.
The probe found that Medicare paid $38 million in 2008 for what were called "erroneous" claims for imaging studies performed in emergency departments, according to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The OIG report gave several reasons for classifying claims as invalid, such as insufficient documentation or the lack of physician orders accompanying the studies.
Is this week's report a sign that the OIG is cracking down on imaging overutilization? Maybe, but some radiologists might welcome increased oversight of emergency imaging, as many imaging specialists have expressed frustration at physician orders for exams they consider unnecessary.
Learn more by clicking here, or visit our Imaging Leaders Digital Community at leaders.auntminnie.com.
Calcium scores linked to mortality
In other news, results of a new study point to the value of CT-derived coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores in predicting mortality from heart disease.
A study of more than 40,000 patients performed by researchers from multiple centers in the U.S. used electron-beam CT to derive CAC scores in patients with and without family histories of heart disease. They found that in patients with the same scores, mortality was much higher in those who had a family history.
The results indicate that family history should be taken into consideration when assessing coronary risk, and perhaps even added to the widely used Framingham risk score, according to the researchers. Read all about it by clicking here.
