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.

hospital ward

How cardiologists can improve in-hospital outcomes after PCI

Researchers evaluated if two recently developed risk scores can anticipate adverse in-hospital outcomes after PCI, sharing their findings in the American Journal of Cardiology.

January 16, 2023

Mo-99 supplier reaches ‘major milestone’ in non-uranium-based production

Backed with financial support and technical prowess from the U.S. Department of Energy, NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes has shown it can produce, at scale, a critical nuclear imaging radiotracer without using highly enriched uranium.

January 12, 2023
transesophageal echocardiography (TEE)

Simulations help 'accelerate the TEE learning curve' for cardiology trainees

Simulation-based training can help cardiology fellows improve their TTE abilities, even when instructors or equipment are in short supply. 

January 11, 2023
hospital ward

Why cardiologists should pay close attention to rehospitalizations after TAVR or SAVR

A new analysis in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions examined rehospitalization rates after AVR, noting that they are consistently associated with worse outcomes and a higher risk of patient mortality.

January 6, 2023
Marijuana use among older adults is associated with a heightened risk of atrial and ventricular arrhythmias, according to new research published in the American Journal of Cardiology. “Marijuana use increases sympathetic nervous system activity and inhibits cardiac parasympathetic innervation, resulting in elevated heart rate, elevated blood pressure, and an increase in myocardial oxygen demand.

Industry group pushes for cannabis screenings in surgery

The American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine) has released new guidelines surrounding cannabis use in relation to surgery, advocating for all patients undergoing procedures with anesthesia to be screened for cannabis use.

 

January 4, 2023
Clyde W. Yancy, MD, MSc, vice dean for diversity and inclusion, chief of cardiology in the Department of Medicine, and a professor of medicine in cardiology and medical social sciences at Northwestern Medicine, discusses health equity issues in cardiology at the American Heart Association (AHA) 2022 meeting.

VIDEO: Health equity and diversity is a business model

Clyde Yancy, MD, vice dean for diversity and inclusion, chief of cardiology, and a professor of medicine in cardiology and medical social sciences at Northwestern Medicine, discusses health equity issues and how greater inclusion should be a business model because of changing demographics.

January 3, 2023

Radiologists exhorted to take charge of change (or learn to live with receding relevance)

The unfolding scenario is packing some serious threats to the livelihoods of the unprepared.   

December 21, 2022
An overview of artificial intelligence (AI) in radiology with Keith Dreyer with the ACR. Images shows a COVID-19 lung CT scan reconstruction from Siemens Healthineers. #AI #radAI #ACR

AI triages pneumothorax patients with differentiated diagnoses

A commercially available AI package has proven adept at distinguishing between two closely similar but unequally urgent conditions on chest X-rays.

December 20, 2022