Toshiba's new Assurance 360 program is making it easier for existing computed tomography (CT) customers to lower radiation dose, improve their scanners' performance and achieve compliance with the MITA Smart Dose standard (XR-29). Assurance 360 not only updates a system to XR-29 compliant but takes patient safety a step further with dose reduction technology and the training and support needed to become dose efficient.
Children's National Health System has installed six Agfa HealthCare DX-D 100 mobile digital radiography (DR) systems and two DX-D 600 full-room DR suites to transition two X-ray rooms from computed radiography (CR) to DR. The installation followed a thorough review of several DR technologies in which Agfa HealthCare's DX-D 600 system was determined as well-suited for the hospital's pediatric patients given its potential to reduce patient radiation exposure as much as 60 percent. Additionally, the DX-D 600 was chosen for its ability to accurately and automatically perform full-length spine imaging, which pediatric patients often require for scoliosis evaluations. The DX-D 100s were selected to provide a more efficient means to image patients.
Using tools that help physicians decide whether to use expensive imaging studies can help reduce the ordering of unnecessary tests, but implementation in real-world settings has many challenges, according to a new RAND Corp. study.
eHealth Saskatchewan plays a vital role in providing IT services to patients, health care providers, and partners such ...
UltraRAD Corp. announced the signing of a partnership agreement with Seattle Children’s Hospital, a 323-bed hospital and research center dedicated to pediatric and adolescent healthcare.
The nation's first and only proton therapy center to treat patients exclusively with pencil-beam scanning is reporting exceptional results in delivering cancer treatment since opening for patient care in 2014.
Imaging informatics leaders from across the globe gathered in Washington, D.C., last week to exchange ideas and network with their peers during the 2015 annual meeting of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM). The event included opportunities to earn CME and CE credits while hearing experts from the field discuss practical solutions for the imaging informatics challenges the industry is currently facing.
While most women understand the importance of health screenings, an estimated 72 million have missed or postponed a ...
Visage Imaging Inc. announced it received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for the use of Visage Ease Pro for mobile diagnostic interpretation of all imaging modalities except mammography. Visage Ease Pro is a core component of the Visage 7 Enterprise Imaging Platform, enabling enterprise imaging with fast, thin-client, server-side processing technology.
SIIM 2015 Program Committee Chair Richard Wiggins III, M.D., discusses social media and mHealth with ITN editorial ...
SIIM Chair David Brown discusses interoperability, and his concerns from a data security and compliance perspective, at ...
Fujifilm’s APERTO Lucent is a 0.4T mid-field, open MRI system addressing today’s capability and image quality needs ...
Donald Dennison, co-chair of the SIIM Hackathon committee, discusses the objectives for this event's second year at the ...
Donald Dennison, director-at-large on the Board of Directors for SIIM, shares his thoughts on "the next imaging ...
One year after the adoption of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a new study by Health eCareers found that the effect of the ACA’s new policies ranked as the third most pressing concern for healthcare recruiters and hiring managers, just behind staff turnover and the projected physician shortage.
SPONSORED CONTENT — Fujifilm’s latest CT technology brings exceptional image quality to a compact and user- and patient ...
That ultrasound offers benefits in cost, availability and minimizing radiation burden should come as no surprise. The medical community has been hearing this for a long time, especially during the past three years from the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) as part of its "Ultrasound First" campaign. What is surprising is that a group of opinion leaders in OB/GYN felt the need to advocate in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (AJOG) the use of "ultrasound first” specifically to image the female pelvis.
Mammograms have long been the first line of defense in detecting breast cancer, which continues to be one of the most common diseases in women today. Within the last decade, however, concerns have arisen over the reliability of mammograms to detect cancer in women with dense breast tissue.
On April 17, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule to update fiscal year (FY) 2016 Medicare payment policies and rates under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System (PPS). The proposed rule, which would apply to approximately 3,400 acute care hospitals and about 435 LTCHs, would affect discharges occurring on or after Oct. 1, 2015.
The healthcare industry is becoming more mobile and efficient than ever before thanks to the adoption of technologies such as electronic health records (EHR) and electronic sharing, storing and accessing of medical data. These advances have all helped to give patients a more dynamic and comprehensive healthcare experience. They have also helped empower patients to take control of their own healthcare history and information.
OSF HealthCare, an 11-hospital, 52-site, 138-year-old Catholic system based in Peoria, Ill., is recognized among Medicare’s Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations. As such they are constantly looking to improve care quality while reducing costs — all with an eye on transitioning, as all U.S. healthcare providers must, from volume-based to value-based care.
At the surface, the term “advanced visualization†seems nebulous at best. Medical imaging technology continues to develop and advance at a rapid rate, so determining what qualifies as advanced remains a moving target as well. In general, however, the current cutting edge of imaging centers around 3-D/4-D viewing and mobile technology, with different specialties implementing them in unique ways.
Proton therapy is an exciting modality in radiation oncology. It is the target of both positive and negative perspectives — the positive related to the technology itself and the ability of proton beams to deposit energy mostly within the tumor being treated. The negative opinions generally result from the historically high cost to build and maintain a center and the lack of access for patients worldwide. The Provision Center for Proton Therapy has not only embraced proton therapy, but also the concept that it must be used in conjunction with other advanced technologies that will assure treatment accuracy.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) gathered public comments on its Stage 3 Meaningful Use (MU) requirements through May 30. The third and final set of MU rules are a core part of the plan to reform American healthcare by leveraging health information technology (IT) to help reduce costs, eliminate redundancies and convert from a fee-for-service to a fee-for-performance reimbursement system.