Dear AuntMinnie Member,
VIENNA - The European Congress of Radiology (ECR) opened today, with both political and clinical topics taking center stage at radiology's premiere pan-European meeting.
The political issues came in the form of the crisis in Ukraine, which could have proved awkward given that the president of ECR 2014, Dr. Valentin Sinitsyn, PhD, is a Russian radiologist. However, ECR officials addressed the situation head-on, noting in today's press conference that as far as ECR 2014 is concerned, science trumps politics.
In fact, Dr. Sinitsyn made a point of noting that the 60 or so Ukrainian radiologists attending this week's meeting had a special invitation to the Friday night reception for Russian radiologists. "We are looking forward to a peaceful end to this conflict," he said, in an article you can read here.
On the clinical front, topics being presented at ECR 2014 range from a new campaign to reduce radiation dose, called EuroSafe Imaging, to the iPad's usefulness for reviewing CT angiography images.
Get these stories and more in our RADCast @ ECR, where we will be posting the latest news from Vienna -- just go to radcast.auntminnie.com. And for up-to-the-minute updates, follow us on Twitter.
Obama's new budget
Meanwhile, back in the U.S., political issues are on the front burner as the Obama administration has released its proposed budget for the 2015 fiscal year. Given ongoing concerns about radiology reimbursement, many are wondering how the budget will affect medical imaging.
The answer is not much. At least, that's according to experts at the American College of Radiology, who see the proposed budget as largely a political exercise, as it focuses mostly on throwing red meat to progressive candidates running for re-election in November.
However, the budget does address two topics near and dear to radiology: the use of preauthorization in the Medicare system and the Stark law's in-office ancillary services exception. But such moves will likely require additional legislative action, which is highly unlikely in the current political environment.
Read more by clicking here, or visit our Imaging Leaders Digital Community at leaders.auntminnie.com.
7T MRI of Parkinson's
Finally, visit our MRI Digital Community to learn how Italian researchers used 7-tesla MRI to uncover details about an area of the brain linked to Parkinson's disease. In their study, they found that the superpowerful MRI scanner allowed them to distinguish individuals with Parkinson's from normal control subjects with "near-perfect accuracy."
Learn more by clicking here, or visit our MRI Digital Community at mri.auntminnie.com.
