The move toward value-based reimbursement (VBR) models is putting pressure on healthcare organizations to modernize their IT systems so they can more effectively measure and improve the quality and efficiency of their care. The long-term goal is clear. Organizations need to integrate their devices, applications, and data so that clinicians and administrators have the right information at the right time to deliver the best possible outcomes at the lowest possible cost.

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington D.C., has begun patient treatments using the RayStation treatment planning system in combination with Mevion’s Hyperscan pencil beam scanning system. This was the world’s first treatment carried out on the Mevion S250i Proton Therapy System, according to Mevion.

Exposure to ultra-high-strength magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may release toxic mercury from amalgam fillings in teeth, according to a new study appearing online in the journal Radiology. The effect was not seen, however, in the lower strength, more commonly used 1.5-Tesla (T) MRI.

Jeffrey Hoffmeister, M.D.

When women reach age 40, an annual mammogram becomes a necessary part of their healthcare ritual — regardless if they have a predisposition to or symptoms of breast cancer. But mammograms are not the only tools in which doctors rely. Other technologies, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are proving valuable for screening, diagnosing and monitoring breast cancer, adding more weapons to the arsenal for both detecting and fighting the disease.

Faith is not based on evidence. Trust is.

Established in 2009, Northern Centre for Cancer Care (NCCC) is the largest center of its kind in the north of England. It provides a regional service for specialized radiotherapy treatments including TBI, TSEI, SRS and pediatrics. The radiation therapy department receives over 4,500 new patient referrals per year. A wide range of treatment techniques is offered, including IMRT, IGRT, total body irradiation, brachytherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, chemoradiation, lung and spine SABR and CHART treatment for lung cancer. NCCC has made substantial investments in state-of-the-art equipment to expand and improve its radiation therapy service. The center is equipped with the latest radiation therapy technology, including new Varian TrueBeam linacs, TomoTherapy, superficial radiation therapy and HDR brachytherapy. RayStation was selected as the optimal treatment planning system and has been used clinically at NCCC since 2016.

Image courtesy of Philips
First Lady Melania Trump recently underwent an interventional radiology (IR) catheter embolization procedure in her kidneys. Also shown is an example of a kidney angiogram to highlight the renal blood vessels during an interventional procedure.

On May 14, 2018, First Lady Melania Trump underwent an embolization procedure for what was called a benign kidney condition in a White House press release. The First Lady’s condition had been previously undisclosed, and the press release offered no further detail, leading to much speculation about the nature of the procedure and why it was needed. Major American news outlets from CBS to NBC to Fox News, and even entertainment outlets like People magazine, ran variations of the headline “What is an embolization?”
Developing a “cloud-first” strategy has helped with efficiency and cost savings

The need to protect patient images and other clinical data from disasters is increasing, just as doing so is getting tougher

July 3, 2018 — Cardiac hybrid imaging with computed tomography (CT) and nuclear stress testing is an excellent long-term predictor of adverse cardiac events like heart attacks in patients being evaluated for coronary artery disease, according to a study published in the journal

There are a handful of priorities for radiologists: lowest radiation dosage, highest image quality, optimal workflow, patient satisfaction and software usability. Part of the Cone Health System, Alamance Regional Medical Center‘s (ARMC) partnership with Samsung has made possible a host of positive outcomes for ARMC’s radiology teams and their patients. A recent study revealed that Samsung’s technology was effective in performing reduced-dose X-ray examinations without compromising image quality.

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