Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Radiology for September 2014. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
AHA: Consider Radiation Risks of Heart Imaging Procedures
TUESDAY, Sept. 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors need to make sure patients understand the radiation-related risks of heart imaging tests before sending them for such procedures, a new American Heart Association scientific statement says. The statement was published online Sept. 29 in Circulation.
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'Just-in-Time' Methodology Can Reduce Patient Waiting Times
MONDAY, Sept. 29, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Having trainee physicians review cases prior to clinic hours can reduce patient waiting times, flow times, and clinic session times, according to a study published online Sept. 16 in Pain Medicine. The management process studied was first popularized by Toyota in Japan.
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AMA Launches Three Programs for Physician Wellness
MONDAY, Sept. 29, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Physicians' personal health is a global concern and three initiatives are being developed to encourage positive change, according to a report from the American Medical Association (AMA).
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Experiences Trump Things, Even Before Purchase
FRIDAY, Sept. 26, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- People derive value from the anticipation of purchasing something, and this anticipation tends to be greater for an experiential purchase than for a material purchase, according to a study published online Aug. 21 in Psychological Science.
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Can Media Multitasking Alter Your Brain?
THURSDAY, Sept. 25, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Multitasking with smartphones, laptop computers, and other media devices could change the structure of your brain, according to a study published online Sept. 24 in PLOS ONE.
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Lung Infections May Hamper Ability to Detect Lung Cancer
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 24, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- A test used to diagnose lung cancer may not be as reliable in geographic regions where certain lung infections are more common, according to research published in the Sept. 24 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Most Doctors Are Over-Extended or at Full Capacity
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 24, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Most physicians report being over-extended or at full capacity, according to a survey conducted by Merritt Hawkins for The Physicians Foundation.
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Report Identifies Game Changers for U.S. Health Care
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 24, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Imagine if doctors and hospitals got paid for providing better care, not more care, and patients had better data for making informed health choices. A new report suggests that's the direction the U.S. health system is headed.
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FDA Warns Doctors of Danger From 'Fake' Drugs
TUESDAY, Sept. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The number of "rogue" wholesale distributors selling fake or unapproved prescription drugs is growing, so doctors need to be vigilant when purchasing medicines, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Tuesday.
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NIH Adds $10M to Encourage Gender Balance in Clinical Trials
TUESDAY, Sept. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. National Institutes of Health is investing $10 million in additional funding in scientific trials to encourage researchers to consider gender in their preclinical and clinical studies.
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Systemwide Changes Needed to Restrain Health Care Spending
FRIDAY, Sept. 19, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Systemwide changes are necessary to prevent excessive health care spending, and so are tools to help consumers make better, more informed medical choices, according to a white paper published in June by Vitals.
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Presence of Peers Ups Health Workers' Hand Hygiene
FRIDAY, Sept. 19, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The presence of other health care workers improves hand hygiene adherence, according to a study published in the October issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
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Strategies Can Help Docs Lower Their Tax Burden
THURSDAY, Sept. 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Strategies are presented to help physicians lower their tax burden in an article published Sept. 2 in Medical Economics.
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One Dose of Antidepressant Changes Brain Connectivity
THURSDAY, Sept. 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Just a single dose of a common antidepressant can quickly alter the way brain cells communicate with one another, according to early research published online Sept. 18 in Current Biology.
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CDC: Almost Everyone Needs a Flu Shot
THURSDAY, Sept. 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Less than half of all Americans got a flu shot last year, so U.S. health officials on Thursday urged that everyone 6 months and older get vaccinated for the coming flu season. "It's really unfortunate that half of Americans are not getting the protection from flu they could get," said Thomas Frieden, M.D., director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during a morning news conference.
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ASTRO Issues Second List of Choosing Wisely Guidelines
THURSDAY, Sept. 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has released a second list of five radiation oncology-specific treatments that should be discussed before being prescribed, as part of the national Choosing Wisely campaign.
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PET-CT Prognostic After Induction Tx in Follicular Lymphoma
THURSDAY, Sept. 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The five-point Deauville scale (5PS), used to score 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake on FDG positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scans, has prognostic value in follicular lymphoma, according to a study published online Sept. 18 in The Lancet Haematology.
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Initial Sonography OK for Diagnosing Nephrolithiasis
THURSDAY, Sept. 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- No significant difference in outcomes is observed between the use of ultrasonography or computed tomography (CT) for suspected nephrolithiasis, according to research published in the Sept. 18 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Internists Report Considerable EMR-Linked Time Loss
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 17, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Use of electronic medical record (EMR) systems is associated with considerable loss of free time per clinic day, according to a research letter published online Sept. 8 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
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Doctors Promoting Transparency With Patients
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 17, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Efforts to increase transparency among doctors are underway, according to an article published in The Boston Globe.
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Screening Elderly Women for Breast Cancer Questioned
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 17, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Including women older than 70 in national breast cancer screening programs won't lead to a sharp reduction in advanced forms of the disease, according to researchers who published their study findings online Sept. 15 in The BMJ.
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Over a Quarter of Hospital Orders Classified As Defensive
TUESDAY, Sept. 16, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- More than one-quarter of hospital medicine services were rated by ordering physicians as at least a partially defensive order, according to a research letter published online Sept. 15 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
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Errata Frequently Seen in Medical Literature
MONDAY, Sept. 15, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Errata, including those that may materially change the interpretation of data, are frequent in medical publications, according to a study published in the August issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
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New Role of Patient As Consumer Requires Market Changes
FRIDAY, Sept. 12, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The new consumer retail market in U.S. health care is necessary and will benefit consumers, and as consumers take on more costs of care, access to information to help them make informed decisions is crucial, according to a recent white paper published by Vitals.
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Researchers Support Lung Cancer CT Screen in Older Patients
FRIDAY, Sept. 12, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Individuals aged 65 to 74 years with a history of smoking should not be excluded from screening with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) for lung cancer, according to researchers who published their study findings online Sept. 9 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Physician Describes Impact of Malpractice Suit
THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- A family doctor who was involved in a malpractice suit describes the impact on her practice of medicine in an article published online in the September/October issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.
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White Matter Measure Predicts Longer Concussion Recovery
THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- A measure of white matter in the brain, particularly in males, is an independent predictor of longer time to symptom resolution (TSR) after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.
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Reanalyses of RCTs Can Lead to Different Conclusions
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 10, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- More than one-third of the small number of reanalyses of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) have implied conclusions different from those of the original articles, according to a study published online Sept. 9 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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For Some, Health Insurance More Costly Than Uninsured Penalty
TUESDAY, Sept. 9, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- For some young people in the United States, the cost of paying a penalty for not buying health insurance will be lower than the lowest-cost insurance, according to a study published online Sept. 9 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Health Care Spending Expected to Rise in 2014 Through 2023
MONDAY, Sept. 8, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- While health spending growth was slow in 2013, health spending is expected to increase in 2014 and remain higher through 2023, according to a study published online Sept. 3 in Health Affairs.
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Blog: Seven Most Common Physician Social Media Misses
THURSDAY, Sept. 4, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The most common physician social media misses and missteps can be avoided, allowing doctors to take advantage of marketing opportunities on all major social media channels, according to the author of a recent Vitals blog.
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ASCO: Family Docs Can Up Return Rates for Mammograms
THURSDAY, Sept. 4, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- A personalized letter from a family physician may help improve return rates for screening mammography, according to research scheduled to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's 2014 Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Sept. 4 to 6 in San Francisco.
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Rate of Bilateral Mastectomy Increased From 1998 to 2011
TUESDAY, Sept. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- For women diagnosed with stage 0 to III breast cancer, the rate of bilateral mastectomy increased from 1998 to 2011, according to a study published in the Sept. 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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