Diagnostic Reading #34: Five “Must Read” Articles on Medical Imaging

Reading Time: 3 minutes read

Top challenges for radiology administrators, and disclosing errors to patients are in the news.

This week’s articles in Diagnostic Reading include: the top challenges in medical imaging management; the growing trend of disclosing errors; payment models for value-based imaging; overusing acronyms in imaging; and how to tackle burnout during an informatics project.

Three challenges in medical imaging management – Everything Rad

What are the top challenges in medical imaging management? According to knowledgeable presenters at AHRA 2019, they are leadership – and often lack of it; managing medical imaging staff; and dealing with stress. Read the related blog on staffing challenges in radiology administration.

Radiologists may soon be expected to disclose errors, apologize to patients – Radiology Business

Healthcare providers are working to communicate with patients about errors more and more, hoping that disclosure and apology processes can help limit legislative action and improve care. An analysis published in Radiology explored radiology’s role in this growing trend—and the push toward quality-based care has already helped radiology make significant progress in this area, according to the authors. Read the blog on 15 strategies to help minimize radiological errors in MRI, CT, and ultrasound imaging.

Payment models seek traction in transition from volume – Imaging Technology News

Efforts to reform healthcare are booming, but finding one that will work well is a challenge. Citing the need to control soaring costs, payers continue trying to reform healthcare. While the shift from volume- to value-based imaging is one of these efforts, determining the value of imaging is not easy. At the recent Association for Medical Imaging Management (AHRA) 2019 conference, a speaker said that radiology practices need to be engaged in the value paradigm.

Are you drowning from too many acronyms? – AuntMinnie Europe

Overusing acronyms and abbreviations in imaging requests and reports can cause confusion, delay a diagnosis, and compromise patient safety, and it’s essential to create an approved list of common acronyms, according to an audit conducted in Scotland. The researchers stated that for the most clarity, requests and reports should be free from all abbreviations. However, in addition to creating an approved list of common acronyms, they plan to publish and distribute an educational bulletin for scan requestors to highlight the potential for confusion.

How to tackle burnout during an enterprise-wide imaging informatics project – Health Imaging

Burnout is a mounting plague across many healthcare specialties, and in radiology, a recent Medscape survey found nearly half of radiologists polled reported feeling burned out, on par with physicians overall. In addition, 67% of those respondents said they were not likely to seek help. This article provides suggestions on how to handle burnout, especially during a long, rigorous enterprise imaging informatics implementation project. #diagnosticreading