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.

American Heart Association program leads to substantial improvements in stroke care
Cardiologist Gregg Fonarow, MD, reviewed decades of data and discussed the long-term impact of the AHA's Get With The Guidelines-Stroke program.
AHA still working to find more patients with severe aortic stenosis who may require care
The initiative is designed to help identify more patients who may require aortic valve replacement. Brian Lindman, MD, provided an update on the project's efforts.
Imaging experts question validity of new CMS quality measure aimed at reducing CT radiation exposure
The American Association of Physicists in Medicine recently convened a panel of industry experts, devising a list of issues with the new quality metric.
Most stock photos fail to accurately portray the work of radiologists
Only about 9% of images examined presented a “realistic view of a radiologist’s job," according to new research out of Belgium.
Efforts needed to improve interventional radiology awareness among specialists: Survey
The call to action comes from a poll of over 500 specialists at a single academic institution, published in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology.

Hospitals pilot policies to test older radiologists’ mental and physical fitness

About 5% of U.S. healthcare organizations have now implemented such competency testing, with about 13% of physicians deemed unfit for the job.

Does placing a patient’s photograph in the EHR influence radiologist behavior?

Economic and psychological studies have shown that seeing an individual’s face can change one's actions—a dynamic relevant to rads who experience minimal patient interaction.

Most referrer requests for imaging are inadequate, new scoring system shows

Amid calls to reduce the rate of low-value imaging exams, experts have developed RI-RADS, a scoring system for rating imaging requests.

Outsourced radiology reports less thorough than in-house ones, researchers claim

Free-text reporting also was associated with significant omissions in abdominal anatomical structures, researchers detailed in the journal Cureus.

Effort to stop primary care providers from ordering low-value imaging hits brick wall

Researchers with the University of California, Davis, detailed their randomized clinical trial in JAMA Network Open Wednesday.

physician tracking patient data and reporting on outcomes

American College of Radiology updates imaging appropriateness criteria with 8 new topics

ACR is adding new entries covering scenarios such as brain tumors, inflammatory ear disease, and lung cancer staging after therapy.

What pizza delivery and university radiologists’ new approach to mammography have in common

Consumers can track their pie when it enters the oven, is boxed and departs for delivery. Why can't they do the same with cancer screening results?

Radiologists divided on which CT quality measures are most important

The unique preferences of different readers highlight a need for more quantitative measures of quality specific to subspecialties.

Quality

American Heart Association program leads to substantial improvements in stroke care

AHA still working to find more patients with severe aortic stenosis who may require care

Imaging experts question validity of new CMS quality measure aimed at reducing CT radiation exposure

Most stock photos fail to accurately portray the work of radiologists

Efforts needed to improve interventional radiology awareness among specialists: Survey