Quality

The focus of quality improvement in healthcare is to bolster performance and processes related to diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Leaders in this space also ensure the proper selection of imaging exams and procedures, and monitor the safety of services, among other duties. Reimbursement programs such as the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) utilize financial incentives to improve quality. This also includes setting and maintaining care quality initiatives, such as the requirements set by the Joint Commission.

Atrial Fibrillation Centers of Excellence: The best path forward for high-quality care and better outcomes
The world is in the throes of an AFib pandemic, one that could potentially get worse in the years ahead due to population growth, economic hardships and rigid resource limitations. According to the Heart Rhythm Society, one way to effectively combat this issue is the development of more AFib Centers of Excellence.
Oversizing reduces PVL when implanting Medtronic’s newer self-expanding TAVR valves
Paravalvular leak has been shown to impact patient outcomes after TAVR. Higher degrees of valve oversizing, however, can reduce the risk of post-treatment PVL without increasing the odds of adverse outcomes.
Family of heart patient who died awarded $45M after suing health system for negligence
The 55-year-old patient woke up experiencing chest pain one morning and an ambulance was called. He was dead just a few hours later. His family's lawsuit argued that delays in care, communication errors and other issues were directly responsible for his death.
How to score accreditation for a radiotherapy theranostics program
Wes Folds, a PET specialist with the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission, discusses a new nuclear offering from IAC.
Referrers want more structured radiology reports
Ordering physicians believe templated reporting more clearly communicates impressions regarding neuro patients, which often require more complex workups and management.

Rising drug costs caused by price hikes, not new innovations

Drug prices are going up not just because of new innovations in medications, as the pharma industry frequently cites, but also because the industry is pricing existing products higher, according to a Health Affairs study.

Combined modality therapy improves care for pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma patients

Treating pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients with chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy results in a better five-year survival rate than chemotherapy alone, according to new findings published in JAMA Oncology.

3 strategies to control wasteful imaging

Unnecessary imaging is a serious problem in the United States. So what can be done about it? A new analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association explored that very question.

American cancer death rate dropped 27% over last quarter-century

Deaths from cancer in the United States declined 27 percent from a peak in 1991, according to the American Cancer Society.

Hospital readmission reductions aren’t as positive as previously reported

Medicare’s Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) has been given a lot of credit for trimming readmission rates, but the real results may be far less impressive, according to a recent study published in Health Affairs.

US cancer death rate down 27% in last 25 years

The overall cancer death rate in the United States has dropped 27 percent in the last 25 years, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society (ACS). This means approximately 2.6 million fewer people have died from cancer during that time.

NPR: Temperature control in medicine delivery a rising risk

Consumers are used to getting what they need easily with the click of a button, including ordering and receiving their prescription medications through the mail. But those deliveries may be risky if medicines aren't stored and transported carefully, according to a report from NPR.

Using an ED expeditor decreases turnaround times, improves CT workflow

Using a dedicated expeditor in the emergency department (ED) can improve CT imaging workflow, according to a new case study published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

Quality

Atrial Fibrillation Centers of Excellence: The best path forward for high-quality care and better outcomes

Oversizing reduces PVL when implanting Medtronic’s newer self-expanding TAVR valves

Family of heart patient who died awarded $45M after suing health system for negligence

How to score accreditation for a radiotherapy theranostics program

Referrers want more structured radiology reports