Educational efforts to raise awareness about the associated risks of CT-based radiation exposure and the need to keep children from receiving unnecessary scans seem to be achieving traction among healthcare providers, according to a study by Ohio researchers. Their findings suggest that such increased awareness may make referring physicians less likely to order imaging that involves ionizing radiation for young patients.

Stressed out at the workstation? You’re not alone. A survey presented at a scientific session Wednesday found relatively high levels of stress across a broad spectrum of radiologists.

Rates of diagnostic imaging utilization varied by more than 56% across the 10 Medicare regions of the U.S., according to a study presented Wednesday. The regions with the highest utilization had the lowest percentage of imaging services provided by radiologists.

Including a patient’s photo with imaging exam results produces a psychological boost that leads radiologists to take a more personal, emphatic approach to interpretation, according an Israeli study presented Tuesday at the 2008 RSNA meeting.

A prototype system developed by the University of Maryland was able, for a time at least, to dramatically boost and document the communication of critical results findings, according to a presentation Tuesday. It’s since been sent back to the drawing board for more work, but points to a solution to a problem that vexes radiologists nationwide.

Radiologists should take much greater care over the patient information contained in their PowerPoint files, according to researchers from the University of Michigan.

In Pennsylvania, radiologists 65 and older read significantly more mammograms than any other group, according to an American College of Radiology patterns-of-care study.