Features

New Data Underscore Importance of Looking for HCM Before Scheduling TAVR

Reported in 2018 by anesthesiologists at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, the case suggested a message to TAVR operators: “Vigilance and a high degree of suspicion” are critical for avoiding the potentially severe hemodynamic consequences of HCM associated with aortic stenosis, the authors asserted (J Med Case Rep 2018;18;12[1]:372).

Board Certification Brouhaha: Rads Cry Foul Over ABR’s Ways and Means

At the American College of Radiology’s 2019 meeting last May, speaker after speaker stepped up to the open microphone in the ballroom of a Washington, D.C., hotel to vent their displeasure with the American Board of Radiology (ABR) and its maintenance of certification (MOC) program.

COVID or Not, Big Money is Buying Radiology Practices. Should Yours Be Selling?

Ahead of print in Radiology Business Journal: As private medical practices continue feeling the squeeze of consolidation across U.S. healthcare, many radiology groups are considering acquisition offers from physician practice management companies (PPMCs).

Seeing the Future–in 3D: New CPT Codes Set the Stage for Expanding 3D Printing in Cardiology

Until recently, cardiologists’ eyes tended to glaze over at the mention of using 3D printing in their practices. Most believed the costs would be too high for routine use, that the applications and the price tag were better suited to academic applications.

Data Dilemma: Taming Healthcare’s Beautiful Beast

To get the operational perspective, CVB hosted a roundtable discussion with service line leaders about the opportunities and challenges they encounter around data.

90 Days a Dyad (or Triad): Strategies for Success & Errors to Avoid in the Crucial Early Days of Partnership

Experienced dyad and triad partners share tips for setting the stage for success and putting the brakes on mistakes.

New Take on Transplant: Reconsidering Hepatitis C-infected Hearts for Donation

As many as 700 hearts from donors with hepatitis C are discarded each year in the U.S. New research suggests at least some of these organs may be suitable for transplant.

Pop Goes the Pillbox: Will Polypharmacy Problems Limit the Adoption of SGLT2 Inhibitors?

Following data supporting their use for heart failure and type 2 diabetes, will sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors find a spot in the heart failure armamentarium?

AI May As Well Stand for ‘Already Ingrained’

Two short years after RadiologyBusiness.com added AI as a standalone beat, it seems the technology has burrowed into radiology like the Burmese python took to the Everglades. At first its presence was novel. Soon it became not uncommon. And now the infiltrator is in everyone’s head. It may as well be everywhere.

Optimizing Relationships With Value-Minded Referring Physicians: 5 Things Radiologists Need to Know

Just as changing circumstances impact how marriage partners work together for the sake of their families, new wrinkles in familiar processes affect the way radiologists and referring physicians cooperate for the good of their patients. And the “changing circumstances” and “new wrinkles” now include the strain of U.S. healthcare’s push for value-based care.

How Will the Generalist Survive?

Given radiology’s development into a subspecialist-rewarding profession, is there pressure on radiology residents to choose a subspecialty or two and, in turn, aim to make generalized practice a side job? Should even established rads concentrate on one area as a way to remain relevant?

CT Phone Home: RBJ Receives Word From the CT Front Lines That You Might Not Have Heard

Forty years after physicist Allan Cormack and electrical engineer Godfrey Hounsfield jointly won a Nobel Prize for inventing computed tomography as we know it, the modality continues to generate new or improved uses and iterations. RBJ spoke with several trailblazers who are still plumbing the depths of CT applications.

Around the web

Health Exec

‘Flesh-eating’ hoax on UnitedHealth leaves Las Vegas woman behind bars

Jennifer Forbes, 50, allegedly sent a cryptic, threatening letter to a UnitedHealthcare office along with an unknown substance. She has been charged with two counts of terrorism.

Health Exec

Massive spending bill passes final vote in Congress with Medicaid cuts intact

The 940-page document passed the House of Representatives in a 218 to 214 vote, and now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk. It contains a 20% cut to federal Medicaid funding, something Trump said he opposes.

Health Exec

Private equity firm buys health data analytics company Arcadia

With the buyout, global private equity investor Nordic Capital makes a big bet on healthcare AI. Arcadia said the influx of cash will be used to improve its technology and find new sources for data it can use for quality care initiatives.