It was a difficult, but not uncommon, neuroradiology case: A patient suffered seizures, but had, a year before, been cleared of the possibility of epilepsy by a radiologist looking at an MRI study of the patient’s brain. The persistence of the symptoms suggested that the initial diagnosis had been incorrect, so Meng Law, MD, professor of radiology

How do you acquire the high–field-strength open MRI unit of your dreams in a tough economy? Unless you had already budgeted a cool million before the economy tanked, it may be difficult. David Nelson, director of outpatient imaging for BayCare Health System, Clearwater, Fla, overcame his lack of comfort with open systems last year and did just that

Stroke and heart attack are major killers, not only in the Western world but, increasingly, throughout the developing industrial nations. The cost of these diseases is counted not only in lives lost, but in the health care costs incurred by those patients suffering the chronic manifestations of stroke and cardiac failure. While the acute and more

The ACR is set to launch a new modular MRI accreditation program designed to meet the specific practice patterns of individual facilities. Sometime this month, the current general MRI accreditation program will transition to the new program—which includes brain, spine, musculoskeletal, body, MR angiography, and cardiac modules—opening the door to

Just five years ago, the thought of cardiac cross-sectional imaging turned immediately toward the potential of MRI for evaluation of the heart. Equipment manufacturers provided new MRI scanners with fast gradients for this purpose and developed new pulse sequences. Advanced 3D workstations provided new software for analysis of cardiac function, and

John Griffith, CIO of Epic Imaging, Portland, Ore, says, “They asked us for it, and we had to come up with a solution.” The radiology practice provides imaging for close to 2,000 physician referrers; what they wanted was electronically delivered radiology reports sent to their practices not via fax, nor even over the Web, where they had to reside

United Healthcare’s decision to require MRI accreditation after March 1, 2008, initiated a trend among payers that is likely to gain steam. It has also sent hospitals and freestanding imaging centers scrambling to secure MRI accreditation from the American College of Radiology, which has accredited over to 5,000 MRI units since beginning its MRI

As little as one extra MRI per day can generate more than an additional $200,000 in incremental revenue annually. But most imaging centers use crude scheduling systems that do not accurately present a center’s potential throughput. David A. Dierolf, director of performance improvement, Outpatient Imaging Affiliates (OIA), Nashville, Tenn, outlined