Health Imaging & IT - June 2008 - (Page 32)

Stat Sheet About 40,000 more health IT professionals— almost 40 percent more than U.S. hospitals currently employ—are needed to meet the demands of wider adoption of health IT systems, according to a report presented on Capitol Hill by Oregon Health & Science University. The report was based on an analysis of the HIMSS Analytics Database, which contains information from about 5,000 U.S. hospitals. The database recently incorporated its EMR Adoption Model, which scores hospitals on eight stages of progress toward a paperless record environment. The study posits Stage 4 as an advanced level of HIT adoption. Stage 4 includes computerized physician order entry (CPOE) to avoid misinterpretation of handwritten prescriptions, for example, and other forms of clinical decision support that have been shown to be associated with improvements in healthcare quality and safety. 40K HIT pros needed Joint replacements shift to younger patients Hip and knee arthroplasties are shifting to the pre-Medicare population, according to findings published in Arthritis Care & Research. In 1997, the majority of hip and knee replacements were performed on patients aged 65 to 84. Forty-five to 64-year-olds in 1997 accounted for 26.5 percent and 25.6 percent of hip and knee replacements, respectively. In 2004, these proportions grew to 36 percent and 36.4 percent, respectively, among 45- to 64year-olds and dropped from 60.2 percent and 69.1 percent down to 52.1 percent and 58.4 percent, respectively. CT dose modulation works Systematic use of tube current dose modulation for CT examinations most often performed in the neuroradiology section has led to significant reductions in radiation doses without sacrificing image quality at the University of California, San Francisco. Results published in Radiology found that the use of dose modulation techniques resulted in reductions of up to 61 percent in radiation dose to adults and children in brain CT scans performed without contrast materials, adult cervical spine CT and adult cervical and intracranial CT angiography. Image quality and noise were unaffected by the use of either z-axis or x-yz-axis dose modulation (p > 0.05). Calif. physicians driving imaging through self-referral Physician self-referral for CT, MRI, and PET scans accounts for much of the large recent increase in overall usage of these technologies in California, according to findings published in Medical Care. Overall utilization of MRI scans in California increased by about half from 2000 to 2004, but scans performed by physicians who billed for the procedures themselves rose as much as 374 percent among some patient groups. Jean M. Mitchell, PhD, of Georgetown University, reviewed claims data in an unnamed employer-sponsored, fee-for-service health plan covering some 2.5 million Californians. She found a similar pattern for CT and PET scans. Mitchell said the most likely explanation for the dramatic increases in self-referred imaging was financial. The study provided no direct evidence that self-referred imaging is more likely to be medically unnecessary. 32 Health Imaging & IT | June 2008 Ultrasound beats CT for assessing lung cancer patients’ chest wall Ultrasound is more sensitive than CT in assessing chest wall involvement in lung cancer patients, according to findings published in the April issue of Chest. Researchers examined the accuracy of transthoracic ultrasound to assess chest wall involvement preoperatively. Of 90 lung cancer patients, ultrasound identified 26 patients as having tumor invasion—23 true-positive results, 3 false-positives and 3 false-negatives. CT scanning resulted in 11 true-positive results, no false-positive results and 15 false-negative results. HealthImaging.com http://HealthImaging.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Health Imaging & IT - June 2008

Health Imaging & IT - June 2008 Contents On The Web The Enterprise News Update Cover Story: Pushing Productivity: How Imaging is Building Efficiency and Cutting Costs Technology Outlook: Imaging Procedures Poised for Growth Great Expectations: PET/CT Delivers SPECT/CT Proving it's Potential MR/PET Holds Promise Good Image Management: Infiltrating Molecular Imaging SNM Preview Modality Review: Mammography’s Next Step: The Dawning of Breast Tomosynthesis Managing Technology: Radiation Oncology: Opening the Doors to IT Reader's Resource Stat Sheet

Health Imaging & IT - June 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.