Rebekah Moan

Articles by Rebekah Moan

An addiction treatment and rehab center in Florida has become the first facility on the East Coast to use single-photon emission CT scans as part of its standard of care for treating addicts. The Hanley Center in West Palm Beach is using the modality to analyze the parts of the brain affected by addiction in order to customize treatment for patients.

Radiologists too often are either unwilling or unable to interpret screening mammography exams, so breast surgeons should learn the specialty and fill in when needed, an international speaker told a group of breast surgeons recently.

While most physicians rely on serum creatinine levels to determine kidney function, it’s not the most reliable indicator, according to a nephrologist who presented at the International Society for Computed Tomography on May 18. Instead, he suggested providers look at the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). In acutely ill patients in particular look at the changing serum creatinine (sCR) levels and not the specific values or specific eGFRs, he said.

What do you get when you mix contrast delivery with computer technology? Dr. Dominik Fleischmann, director of CT at Stanford Hospital and Clinics kicks off a session at the International Society for Computed Tomography conference starting May 18 on contrast medium delivery and image enhancement. He will focus on how power injectors are starting to act as computers.

The Imaging e-Ordering Coalition is concerned the Obama administration has failed to grasp the effectiveness of clinical decision support to control imaging utilization, instead favoring the conventional method of radiology benefit managers. In response, the coalition is preparing a white paper to explain the benefits of clinical decision support.

Data continue to accumulate showing that screening mammography rates are declining in the U.S. A survey recently conducted for Diagnostic Imaging by The MarkeTech Group found nearly half (47%) of hospital-based administrators surveyed said there is a decrease in the number of women receiving mammograms at their facility compared to 2009.

When Sutter Health Hospital in Sacramento, CA, recently terminated its contract with Radiology Associates of Sacramento, one of the largest and oldest practices in the U.S., the action sent shudders through elements of the radiology community.

Utilization rates of CT, MRI, and PET for the Medicare population vary substantially from region to region with Atlanta having the highest rate and Seattle having the lowest, according to a study in the April issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Imaging studies at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games increased 65% from when they were last held in Torino, Italy. At the Vancouver games 950 imaging studies were performed, according to Dr. Bruce Forster, a professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and the Vancouver Organizing Committee imaging supervisor.

Months after a pair of randomized trials published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that vertebroplasty is no better than placebo in relieving pain from vertebral fractures, a debate still rages in scientific communities.

A consortium that will include more than 750 radiologists from 13 practice groups announced it was beginning operations this week. The consortium will focus on the business side of radiology, determining things like common billing platforms across the groups.

Never in the history of the Olympics has diagnostic imaging played such a huge role. For the first time ever at the Winter Olympic games taking place in Vancouver, Canada, all four modalities–digital radiography, ultrasound, CT, and MRI–are represented in both the Alpine and city settings.