Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Well, the dust is settling on the U.S. government shutdown fiasco, and at least one thing is still standing: Obamacare. The president's signature healthcare reform legislation withstood Republicans' best efforts to delay or gut its implementation, and today the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act remains the law of the land.
So it's timely that learning to live with the law -- particularly as it pertains to academic radiology -- is the topic of a new article in our Imaging Leaders Digital Community. Dr. Pablo Ros, PhD, of Case Western Reserve University, explains the steps he believes academic radiology should take to adapt to the changing landscape.
For one, academic radiology departments should support efforts to encourage more appropriate imaging utilization. Ensuring effective radiation dose management is another important task, given the increased volume of orders for imaging that will likely result.
Find out what else Dr. Ros thinks imaging should do by clicking here, or visit the community for the article at leaders.auntminnie.com.
Fewer med students eye radiology
Are fewer medical students picking radiology as a career? That's the disturbing implication of a new study that analyzed data on Google searches to document what many radiology training programs appear to be experiencing firsthand.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania analyzed data from the Google Trends service to see how many searches were being performed on keywords such as "radiology residency" over the past decade. They then compared that data to the number of actual applications to radiology programs in the National Resident Matching Program.
Google Trends data are emerging as a valuable tool for spotting trends early; for example, healthcare providers can detect a developing flu epidemic by analyzing searches for flu-related keywords before patients even see their doctor.
What did the researchers discover about radiology residency trends? Click here for the details, or visit our Residents Digital Community at residents.auntminnie.com.
Breast MRI screening
Finally, visit our MRI Digital Community for an article on a new imaging protocol that could make breast MRI screening a clinical reality.
Breast MRI has important advantages over conventional x-ray mammography, particularly for women with dense breast tissue. But it's been considered too expensive to implement on a widespread basis for applications such as screening.
Now, a radiologist from Michigan has developed a streamlined breast MRI protocol that he believes could make it suitable for use in screening. Dr. David Strahle and colleagues tested the protocol in a population of nearly 700 women and found that it detected many cancers missed on x-ray mammography.
What's even better is that imaging specialists in Michigan can get paid for using the protocol starting in November from one of the state's insurance providers. Is this a sign of things to come? Find out by clicking here, or visit our MRI Digital Community at mri.auntminnie.com.
