Much has been written about improving quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) in radiology, but little attention has been paid to the processes for which the technologist is responsible—in spite of the technologist’s critical role in ensuring that imaging devices are properly calibrated. Nikunj Desai, algorithms developer for iCRco

With the RSNA® 2011 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, right around the corner, radiology groups and hospitals around the country are again preparing to seek the solutions that they need to survive in the new health-care paradigm—which revolves around the triple aim of reform: improving efficiency, honing quality, and

In making the decision to take or pass on a new hospital contract, radiology groups often let emotion supersede reason, Jana Landreth, CPA, director of practice management at Medical Management Professionals, Inc (MMP), Atlanta, Georgia, explains. “The factor that most often challenges these decisions is emotion,” she says. “It manifests itself as

Whether an entity is being partnered or acquired, up-front money is always the first consideration. While no one denies the importance of dollars, Todd J. Sorensen, a partner at VMG Health (Nashville, Tennessee), warns his clients that even the most lucrative deals can go sour if cultures clash and operational issues make life miserable.

On September 1, 2011, the Joint Commission issued a Sentinel Event Alert related to radiation dose from diagnostic imaging. “If a patient receives repeated doses, harm can occur as the cumulative effect of those multiple doses over time,” the alert states. “Conversely, using insufficient radiation may increase the risk of misdiagnosis, delayed

As health care continues to struggle with a hobbled economic outlook, few aspects of operations have remained unscathed—and those include the financial processes related to the acquisition of new imaging equipment, according to Mark Hoffman, senior vice president of the health-care group at Key Equipment Finance (Superior, Colorado). “In the past

I had the opportunity to attend the annual Economics of Diagnostic Imaging (EDI) conference in Arlington, Virginia, for the first time on October 27–30; although the one–two punch of flying across the country for EDI and then the RSNA® 2011 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, held little appeal, I was excited to attend

A Massachusetts commission responsible for controlling health care costs in that state has issued a recommendation that price controls be imposed on hospitals and other medical providers, State House News Service (www.statehousenews.com) reports.