Dear AuntMinnie Member,
For better or for worse, direct-to-consumer advertising is becoming an increasingly common element of the U.S. healthcare system. So are whole-body wellness scans. What happens when you combine both with Groupon?
Researchers from Massachusetts tried to answer this question in a new research paper, and our coverage of the study was our most-read article for the past week. In the study, the authors analyzed over 28,000 vouchers for imaging offered through Groupon, analyzing the marketing claims they made as well as feedback provided by patients.
What were their findings? Patients who get their scans through Groupon may not be fully apprised of the risks involved in whole-body wellness scans.
The 2020 election
The U.S. presidential election took place on November 3, and as of this writing, a winner still hasn't been announced. But odds are that no matter which candidate wins, radiology faces a difficult economic environment starting in January.
A number of reimbursement cuts have been proposed for Medicare and Medicaid at the same time that radiology volumes remain depressed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dhruv Chopra, CEO of Collaborative Imaging, analyzes the situation in an article you'll find in our Imaging Leaders Community.
Echo for COVID-19
Ultrasound has emerged as an essential tool for managing patients during the pandemic. But usually, the modality is used for lung imaging.
In a new story in our Ultrasound Community, researchers from New York City described how they used echocardiography to investigate serious heart abnormalities in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
In another story in the community, a group from Canada described how they put a point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) scanner on a helicopter used for emergency trauma missions. And a team from Pennsylvania found that POCUS performed better than chest x-ray when it came to diagnosing atypical pneumonia in patients with COVID-19.
