Health Imaging & IT - September 2008 - (Page 7)

tHe enteRpRise EDITORIAL Mary C. Tierney, Editorial Director mtierney@trimedmedia.com Beth Walsh, Senior Editor bwalsh@trimedmedia.com Lisa Fratt, Features Writer lfratt@trimedmedia.com Jonathan Batchelor, Web Editor jbatchelor@trimedmedia.com Justine Cadet, News Editor jcadet@trimedmedia.com Sarah Lamberti, Assistant News Editor slamberti@trimedmedia.com INTERACTIVE MEDIA Amy Lizotte, Interactive Media Manager alizotte@trimedmedia.com Jeffrey Hill, Interactive Media Developer jhill@trimedmedia.com ART & DESIGN Michele Rivera, Art Director mrivera@trimedmedia.com Jason Litchﬁ eld, Production Editor jlitchﬁ eld@trimedmedia.com SALES & MARKETING Jack Spears, Publisher jspears@trimedmedia.com Scott Andersen, Advertising Director sandersen@trimedmedia.com Matthew Payne, Account Manager mpayne@trimedmedia.com Michael Rahme, Account Manager mrahme@trimedmedia.com Nina Botelho, Marketing Director nbotelho@trimedmedia.com ADMINISTRATION Susan Cabral, Business Manager scabral@trimedmedia.com PUBLICATION SERVICES Editorial Submissions & Information editor@healthimaging.com Advertising, Media Kits & Reprints sales@healthimaging.com Subscriptions & Back Issues subs@healthimaging.com Creative Services & Information art@healthimaging.com CORPORATE OFFICE 235 Promenade Street, Suite 455 Providence, Rhode Island 02908 tel. 401.383.5660 fax 401.383.3896 BeHinD tHe eViDence Evidence-based medicine has been building strength over the 15 or so years since the methodologies used to determine “best evidence” were largely established by the McMaster University research group led by David Sackett and Gordon Guyatt. As we know, evidence-based medicine is a way to improve and evaluate patient care. It involves combining the best clinical research evidence, including metaanalyses and systemic reviews of multiple studies, best practice guidelines and a physician’s individual expertise along with the patient’s values to make decisions about medical care. Examining evidence and building best practices is especially important in health imaging because utilization has surged in recent years, presenting an annual growth rate of 9 percent, nearly one-half more than the annual increase in general medical expenditures (approximately 6 percent). As such, policy-makers and payors are increasingly demanding that evidence-based data justify the utilization of imaging procedures. Strong evidence is building, serving to differentiate and delineate technology choices for various disease states. For example, a study released in June found PET/CT is the only test necessary in staging or restaging lymphoma patients, as CT alone added no value. In detecting coronary artery disease, multislice CT and SPECT are “complementary rather than overlapping” technologies, says a 2006 study. The authors said “although a relationship exists between the severity of CAD on multislice CT and myocardial perfusion abnormalities on SPECT, analysis on a regional basis showed only moderate agreement between observed atherosclerosis and abnormal perfusion.” Cancer patient management is changed for one in three patients due to PET/CT findings, according to National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) data released in May. That study also found that PET is associated with a management change in almost 75 percent of patients when the addition or deletion of specific modes of therapy was included. For patients with a pre-PET plan of biopsy, the post-PET plan had a significant impact on care—with biopsies avoided in about 75 percent of the cases analyzed. In breast imaging, the results of the DMIS Trial are widely known, which found fullfield digital mammography (FFDM) superior to film-screen in finding breast lesions in women with dense breasts, who are pre- and peri-menopausal or younger than 50. Less widely known are the recently released stats from the Irish National Breast Screening Program that show FFDM is a superior mammography screening method for all eligible patients. The evidence continues to build better medicine. M ary C. Tierney, Editorial Director mtierney@trimedmedia.com HealthImaging.com September 2008 | Health Imaging & IT 7 http://HealthImaging.com

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

Health Imaging & IT - September 2008 Table of Contents On the Web The Enterprise News Update Imaging Weighs the Evidence Radiation Oncology Tackles IT Integration PET/CT: Diagnosing Cardiac Disease—Adding Function to Form Modality Update People & Technology In Practice Reader's Resource Technology Outlook

Health Imaging & IT - September 2008

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