Dear AuntMinnie Member,
One of the challenges in getting a better handle on medical radiation dose is the difficulty of pulling dose data from imaging devices. Scanners simply weren't designed to output radiation dose information in an easy-to-use format.
But new informatics tools are offering some hope. In our Healthcare IT Digital Community, we're highlighting a pair of new studies that profile how researchers are developing data-mining tools to extract dose information from imaging exams into reports that can be analyzed as part of a quality control program.
One tool works with data from nuclear medicine studies -- which contribute to 26% of the U.S. population's exposure to medical radiation -- while the other analyzes CT exams. Learn about both by clicking here, or visit the community at healthcareit.auntminnie.com.
PACS downtime
Going digital has brought great things to radiology, but downtime of your PACS network isn't one of them. A PACS network outage can quickly bring all of your facility's imaging operations to a halt.
Fortunately, there are ways to ensure that you have at least some measure of continuity in the event of a system shutdown, and we bring you some of them in a new article in our PACS Digital Community.
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center developed a workflow continuity model that reduced total PACS downtime by 94%, and nearly eliminated planned downtime disruptions. Find out how they did it by clicking here, or go to pacs.auntminnie.com.
Imaging slowdown
Finally, this week brought more news documenting the slowdown in medical imaging, this time courtesy of a new article in Health Affairs.
Researchers examining procedure volume data found that the growth rate for imaging studies in both the Medicare and private-payor systems began decelerating in 2006 -- just as the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 went into effect. The slowdown has continued, with imaging growing at rates in the low single digits thereafter.
The study may not be news to anyone who's suffered through radiology's sluggish business environment for the past half-decade, but it could have interesting public policy implications as medical imaging struggles to stave off more reimbursement cuts. Learn more by clicking here, or visit our Imaging Leaders Digital Community at leaders.auntminnie.com.
