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.

Common methods for attributing cardiac care in ACOs may be falling short
As the United States continues to move toward quality-based care, ACOs need to rethink the way they attribute care to cardiologists and other members of the heart team.
The best children’s heart hospitals in the US
The annual list is based on resources, services provided, outcomes data and survey responses from thousands of physicians. Did your facility make the cut?
AI algorithm effectively repurposes CT scans to screen for 2 key chronic diseases
Experts are hopeful that routine CT scans could serve the dual purpose of screening patients for both osteoporosis and heart disease.
Impella heart pump provides value during high-risk PCI, meta-analysis confirms
Using an Impella heart pump during high-risk PCI was linked to a reduced short-term mortality rate and an acceptable safety profile.
Hundreds of MRI units affected by FDA Class 1 recall
Failure to address these issues could "cause serious adverse health consequences or death," the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently warned providers.

Best of the best? Meet the world’s top 250 hospitals for cardiology

Fifteen of the list's top 25 hospitals are located in the United States.

Radiologists could cut surgery costs with imaging-first approach to common foot ailment

The specialty plays a crucial role in both diagnosing and treating Morton's neuroma, researchers detailed in the American Journal of Roentgenology.

FDA warns troubled imaging center following similar state alert alleging ‘serious risk to human health’

Hoffman Imaging & Medical Center reportedly let its mammography accreditation lapse in October 2019 but continued to deliver exams anyway, the FDA alleged.

ACR launching new performance-improvement network with $3M Gordon & Betty Moore grant

The American College of Radiology Learning Network hopes to create performance metrics and strategies to improve patient outcomes across several sites.

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Patients with dangerous delayed appendicitis diagnoses are markedly less likely to undergo imaging

Imaging can drop the chances of misdiagnosis, but overuse of CT increases radiation risks, and ultrasound can produce false positives, experts wrote in JAMA Network Open.

Screening slowdowns spelled tens of thousands fewer mammograms, hundreds more missed diagnoses

Declining mammography rates during the COVID-19 pandemic call for additional resources to pinpoint those in need of screening, experts charged.

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Quality experts urge CMS to fold imaging Appropriate Use Criteria Program into other value initiatives

After years of delays, the initiative's usefulness has "diminished significantly," imaging leaders from several noted institutions wrote in Health Affairs.

Virtual reality helps radiology department significantly reduce pain and anxiety during contrast delivery

Those involved see VR’s role growing further in imaging, with plans to use the goggles to help decrease stress and claustrophobia during MRI exams.

Quality

Common methods for attributing cardiac care in ACOs may be falling short

The best children’s heart hospitals in the US

AI algorithm effectively repurposes CT scans to screen for 2 key chronic diseases

Impella heart pump provides value during high-risk PCI, meta-analysis confirms

Hundreds of MRI units affected by FDA Class 1 recall