Medical Imaging

Physicians utilize medical imaging to see inside the body to diagnose and treat patients. This includes computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), X-ray, ultrasound, fluoroscopy, angiography,  and the nuclear imaging modalities of PET and SPECT. 

MRI Accreditation Checklist: Prepare for Success

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

Maximize MR Throughput with Efficient Scheduling

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

Breast MRI: An Imaging Center Opportunity to Raise Bar of Care

New guidelines from the American Cancer Society [1] recommending annual breast MRI for high-risk women are expected to result in significantly expanded demand for the study. Robert Smith, director for screening at the American Cancer Society, estimated that the new guidelines would add between 1 million and 2 million women a year to the number who

To the Bone: SPECT/CT Drives Diagnostic Clarity

Torsten Kuwert, MD, of the University of Erlangen, details how new techniques in SPECT/CT are gaining wider acceptance in diagnosing and staging indeterminate bone lesions—in a single patient visit.

PET Scanning Meets High Definition

Ready to take PET scanning to the next level in its debut this month, high-definition PET (HD•PET) scans optimize image uniformity and enable visualization of smaller structures.

The Big Picture

Molecular imaging is providing new insights into human physiology and disease. It provides more accurate diagnosis, cancer staging, restaging and treatment monitoring, and allows for highly accurate determinations of cardiac and brain function. Molecular imaging thus enables more appropriate and timely treatment decisions.

Mitigating the Impact of DRA: Lessons from the Field

St. Vincent’s PET Center has provided PET/CT services since 2004. The center managed to turn a reasonable profit prior to the enactment of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) in January 2007.

SPECT/CT Takes Myocardial Perfusion Imaging to the Next Level

University of Michigan Health System finds answers to the shortcomings of conventional myocardial perfusion SPECT imaging of obese patients.