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Powerful corporations and Congress make big headlines -- for all the wrong reasons. Scandals plaguing the private and public sectors, however, can provide a wakeup call for radiologists to renew their commitment to ethical behavior, according to RSNA president Dr. Robert R. Hattery.

New analyses of data from the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial show that digital mammography is superior only for pre- and perimenopausal women with dense breasts. Screen-film mammography may actually have an edge in older women with fatty breasts, according to a study presented at the RSNA meeting on Sunday.

I was caught off guard last week by the barrage of news reports that stemmed from a study regarding lung screening for early cancer detection. Every news channel in my area was reporting it with the same vigor they use to convey news of North Korea and the Iraq war. PBS even had a special on it. What many of us in the imaging community already knew, and those in Congress seem to forget, is that medical imaging saves lives and money.

U.S. hospitals are in trouble, with an estimated shortage of up to 200,000 beds nationwide predicted by 2012. Profitability issues are to blame, according to a report by the Center for Health Design in Concord, CA.

The Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC) will push hard for the postelection Congress to pass legislation to delay scheduled Medicare cuts aimed at medical imaging reimbursement, but prospects do not look good.

After a 60-day comment period on proposed changes to the Medicare physician fee schedule, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released its final rule this month, a document that deviates little from the changes announced earlier in the year. Comments sent in by interested stakeholders, however, reveal concerted efforts to amend provisions that reduce payment.

Burned out and discouraged, physicians in significant numbers have considered chucking their medical careers, according to the American College of Physician Executives’ first Physician Morale Survey.

In a move calculated to open doors for CT as a cardiac screening tool, GE Healthcare will market a software upgrade for its LightSpeed VCT that will dramatically reduce the radiation dose patients receive during cardiac CT.

Laser-based eye tests now in clinical trials for detection of Alzheimer’s disease have proven successful in spotting early molecular signs of the disease. The commercialization of these tests could ignite future demand for imaging studies of patients suspected of Alzheimer’s.

Laser-based eye tests now in clinical trials for detection of Alzheimer’s disease have proven successful in spotting early molecular signs of the disease. The commercialization of these tests could ignite future demand for imaging studies of patients suspected of Alzheimer’s.