Dear AuntMinnie Member,
The big news in radiology this past week was a proposal by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to lower the starting age at which Medicare would pay for CT lung cancer screening to 50, five years younger than current policy.
The move by CMS wasn't entirely a surprise. The proposal parallels a move by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) earlier this year to expand the criteria under which high-risk individuals -- mostly current and former smokers -- would be eligible for screening.
Will the moves lead to increased uptake of CT lung screening, which has been anemic so far? Only time will tell.
In related news, a recent report by the American Lung Association has found that while overall lung cancer survival is up, survival rates are lower for minority patients. The findings indicate that despite progress in the war on cancer, much work remains to be done to address healthcare disparities.
And in another story, researchers found that stricter Lung-RADS categories in terms of nodule size help clinicians to categorize those found on follow-up lung cancer screening CT exams.
Get these stories and more in our CT Community.
Reimbursement drives AI
What's another development that should come as no surprise? Paying clinicians for artificial intelligence (AI) software actually prompts them to use it. That's according to a new report in our Artificial Intelligence Community.
Researchers from group purchasing organization Vizient studied utilization of the first clinical application of AI, for detecting large-vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke on CT scans. They found that use of algorithms for LVO stroke grew sharply when CMS started its new technology add-on payment (NTAP) program for the applications starting in October 2020.
In other AI news, visit the community to find out more on how AI might affect radiologist productivity, as well as a project in which radiologists were enlisted in the training of an AI algorithm to help improve its performance for COVID-19.
Keep up to date with the latest in AI, deep learning, and related disciplines in the Artificial Intelligence Community.
Get on the Road to RSNA
It's hard to believe, but RSNA 2021 is just one week away! This year's meeting will include both onsite and streaming presentations, meaning you can follow along regardless of whether you're at home or in person in the cozy confines of McCormick Place in Chicago.
As always, we're pleased to bring you our annual Road to RSNA preview of highlighted sessions at RSNA 2021. We've already launched previews of artificial intelligence, women's imaging, digital x-ray, and CT, with more sections going live next week.
We invite you to give them a look, and get on the Road to RSNA!
