The American College of Radiology (ACR) has joined the ABIM Foundation and eight other medical specialty societies in the Choosing Wisely campaign. Choosing Wisely promotes wise choices by physicians and patients to improve health outcomes, avoid unnecessary interventions and make efficient use of healthcare dollars.
Written by Kaitlyn Dmyterko
DENVER—Incorporating coronary artery calcium screening (CAC) into practice can change the diagnoses and management of coronary artery disease (CAD), however, it may still be too early to tell how it will impact patient outcomes, Tim M. Bateman, MD, co-director of cardiovascular radiologic imaging at Mid America Heart Institute, Saint Luke's Health System in Kansas City, said during a presentation Sept. 11 at the 16th annual American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) scientific session.
Comparative effectiveness research (CER) presents both opportunities and challenges for radiology, according to an article published in the September issue of
Academic Radiology. Patient communication, decision support and policy changes are essential to radiology’s survival in the comparative effectiveness era.
Written by Justine Cadet
The SNM 2011 annual meeting, being held at the San Antonio Convention, Sports & Entertainment Facilities Center in San Antonio from June 4 to 8, is bridging the ‘ologies, as nuclear medicine and molecular imaging are beginning to stretch their legs into multiple subspecialties, including neurology, cardiology, psychology, pharmacology and oncology—all of which are well represented in the program.
NEW ORLEANS—ACC tackled tough questions associated with the use of integrated cardiovascular imaging and suggested that demonstrating improved patient outcomes and cost-effectiveness is quite complex but absolutely necessary. The specialty of cardiology needs to embrace randomized controlled trials to delineate the value of and roles for cardiac imaging modalities, according to a panel of experts in an Integrated Imaging Spotlight session held Sunday at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology.
Written by Manjula Puthenedam, PhD
PET imaging is effective in staging, restaging, detecting recurrence and treatment monitoring across a wide range of cancers. This feature discusses updates on important PET imaging clinical trials in cancer care by the American College of Radiology Imaging Network and National Cancer Institute and focuses on improving cancer staging and predicting response to therapy. The National Oncology PET Registry (NOPR) recently published the results of the impact of dedicated brain PET on intended patient management and opened a registry for 18F-sodium fluoride PET to identify bone metastasis. The Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) sponsored by the NCI is another group conducting clinical trials in cancer, yet PET trials are still few.
