Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Doctors -- including radiologists -- love to complain about malpractice litigation, but how much of a threat is it to the average physician? It turns out that the rate of malpractice claims against physicians has actually dropped significantly over the past 20 years.
A new study that analyzed malpractice claims by physician specialty showed that overall the rate of claims against doctors has fallen 55.7% since 1992. The authors proffered a number of reasons for the decline, ranging from the adoption of procedures to guard against medical errors to changes in the way medical claims are settled.
Unfortunately, radiology saw one of the lowest declines in the malpractice claim rate among the 25 specialties surveyed, with the rate falling 38.6%. Radiologists also had a claim rate that was higher than the average across all medical specialties.
Read all about it by clicking here, or visit our Imaging Leaders Community at leaders.auntminnie.com.
Machine learning and MRI for depression
Imaging informatics researchers are finding new uses for machine learning and artificial intelligence every day. New research from Texas indicates that it could be used to detect cases of serious depression before patients exhibit symptoms.
In a proof-of-concept study, researchers used a machine-learning algorithm to analyze measurements of white matter in the brain, derived from MRI scans. They found that the algorithm had an accuracy of 74% for determining which individuals had major depressive disorder compared to healthy controls. Learn more about the study by clicking here.
Contrast US for kidney lesions
What role should contrast-enhanced ultrasound play in characterizing kidney lesions? Researchers from North Carolina have a few ideas -- read about them by clicking here, or visit our Ultrasound Community at ultrasound.auntminnie.com.
