IMRT Use Grows, But Cost Challenges Loom

The external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) market has been active in recent months, with advances in techniques, devices and treatment planning software that help radiation oncology clinicians provide patients with the most targeted radiation delivery possible. With an estimated 1.1 million patients in the United States treated with radiation in 2009 (including both external beam and brachytherapy delivery), up 15 percent from 2007,[1] and worldwide growth in the radiation therapy market expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 9.1 percent by 2018,[2] activity in this sector can be expected to continue.

The preferred treatment for patients with operable lung cancer is surgical resection. However, many lung cancer patients whose tumors are technically resectable have other medical problems, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which make it difficult to endure lung cancer surgery. Until the last decade these patients were treated with conventional radiotherapy, but more recently stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), or the accurate delivery of high doses of radiation over a short period of time, has emerged as an alternative treatment.

When it comes to modalities, why select digital radiography (DR)? There are several reasons. First, DR is fast. The speed inherent in the technology improves overall workflow for the entire radiology department. Also, image quality is superb and the required X-ray doses can be significantly lower than with traditional modalities.

September 5, 2012 — According to a study in the Sept. issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology, overall noninvasive diagnostic imaging (NDI) costs to Medicare Part B dropped 21 percent from 2006 to 2010. The study reveals that medical imaging is not a driver of escalating Medicare costs.

September 5, 2012 — A criminal complaint was unsealed this morning in Brooklyn federal court charging Ting Huan Tai, also known as “Warren Tai,” the operator of United Medical Diagnosis, P.C. (“UMD”), based in Flushing, New York, with healthcare fraud in connection with his submission of more than $30 million in false Medicare and Medicaid billings. A seizure warrant seeking the defendant’s alleged ill-gotten gains, including a Lamborghini automobile, was also unsealed.

Like an eyewitness to a freight train bearing down on a rocket fuel truck at a railroad crossing, I couldn’t avoid watching the ensuing carnage after two individuals who underwent positron emission tomography (PET) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) with CardioGen-82 (Rubidium Rb 82 Generator) triggered airport radiation sensors in May 2011. Hung up on the tracks… Bracco Diagnostics, healthcare providers and their patients. Inbound at 60 miles-per-hour and weighing in at 15,000 tons… the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  


August 30, 2012 — According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research entitled, "Digital Radiology Market - Global Industry Size, Market Share, Trends, Analysis and Forecast, 2012 - 2018," the global radiology systems market is estimated at $9.7 billion in 2012 and expected to reach $13.3 billion by 2018, at a compound annual growth rate of 5.4 percent from 2012 to 2018.

August 30, 2012 — HealthInsight, Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging Centers and eHealth Global Technologies (eHGT) announced the successful go-live for HealtHIE Nevada of eHealth Image Exchange, a service that enables authorized health information exchange (HIE) participants to seamlessly share diagnostic quality images.

August 30, 2012 — Carestream has upgraded its Carestream DRX-1 system with a new smaller and lighter console at 20 x 8 x 15 inches and 36 lbs.

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