Fed advisors weigh imaging metrics for health records

Fed advisors weigh imaging metrics for health records

Several ideas considered June 16 by the Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee for its definition of "meaningful use" of electronic health records (EHRs) directly address radiology. Two are about screening for colorectal cancer and breast cancer. The third calls for tracking "inappropriate imaging procedures." The definition of meaningful use is critically important to the widespread adoption of EHRs as part of the Obama administration's effort to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of healthcare in the U.S. The HIT Policy Committee is an expert advisory group charged, in part, with coming up with a definition of the term for consideration by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which will decide on the final definition. The public has until June 26 to comment on ideas being considered by the committee. Details are available at the group's website.

Philips shows scalable SPECT camera

Philips unveiled this week at the SNM meeting in Toronto its new BrightView X, a SPECT camera that can be easily upgraded with CT to the full capabilities of the company's high-end hybrid BrightView XCT. Shown at the meeting with expanded applications in orthopedics, the BrightView XCT is a general-purpose SPECT/CT camera introduced at SNM 2008. Philips also displayed at the 2009 SNM meeting its Gemini TF PET/CT with an upgraded time-of-flight platform, which allows the accurate localization of coincident gamma rays for improved image resolution or lower doses of radioisotope.

Siemens installs Biograph mCT at U.S. sites

The first U.S. installations of Siemens' Biograph mCT (molecular CT) are in place at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield, IL, and the Spectrum Health Lemmon-Holton Cancer Pavilion in Grand Rapids, MI. Unveiled late last year, the Biograph mCT is being positioned as a PET/CT that serves both nuclear medicine and radiology departments with compact time-of-flight PET technology and CT configurations up to 128 slices.