Simultaneous assessment of coronary stenosis, myocardial perfusion, and ventricular function in a patient with acute myocardial infarction.

Cardiac CT angiography (CTA) is an ideal tool to investigate cardiac and noncardiac causes of acute chest pain. In this case, careful planning of the CTA acquisition and reconstruction limits permitted not only the exclusion of aortic dissection and provided high resolution images of coronary anatomy but also showed a concordant abnormality in myocardial perfusion and ventricular function in the setting of an acute coronary syndrome. Detailed planning of every CTA acquisition reconstruction protocol is essential to obtain the information necessary for clinical decision-making strategies and interventions in the patient with chest pain.

The path to going green.

A growing number of hospitals are making environmental stewardship a part of their missions. The options for embracing sustainability and eco-friendly principles extend to every aspect of a hospital's operations. To navigate the complex choices ahead, hospitals can lean on a number of resources, many of which are profiled here.

Converging for coverage.

Surprising coalitions have come together to demand solutions to the nation's uninsured crisis. When it comes time to work out the details, will these unlikely partners find common ground?

Reining in RAC.

The Medicare recovery audit contractor (RAC) program is scheduled to go nationwide this fall, and hospitals hope its worse excesses will be gone.

Revving up the quality campaign.

Throughout the election season, H&HN will analyze some of the most critical health care issues facing voters and candidates. Our aim is to provide a deeper understanding of the political and business environment that surrounds these areas. This, the fourth of a five-part series, explores quality.

Reclassification of patients for aggressive cholesterol treatment: additive value of multislice coronary angiography to the National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines.

Background: National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) guidelines have been used to define treatment goals in patients with hypercholesterolemia. However, epidemiology-based guidelines are unable to identify all subjects with coronary artery disease for aggressive lipid intervention.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the additive value of multislice computed tomography (MSCT) angiography to the NCEP guideline classification for lipid treatment.

Reining in RAC.

The much-dreaded Medicare recovery audit contractor program is scheduled to go nationwide this fall. Hospitals hope the most onerous aspects from the RAC pilot project will be gone by then.

The cost conundrum.

The upward surge in health care costs will block attempts to expand coverage and access. Strategies for controlling costs abound, but will any of them work?

The cost conundrum.

From the presidential campaign trail to the board rooms of the Fortune 500 to the man on the street, everyone talks about the high cost of health care, but no one knows what to do about it.

Worth more than a pound of cure.

The national wellness movement is gaining momentum and fans, particularly in dealing with chronic conditions, but some feel it has a punitive side.

An ounce of prevention.

The wellness movement is gaining momentum as a way to cut medical costs and improve Americans' health. But skeptics wonder if wellness really works.

How hospitals can prepare for the new MS-DRGs.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is rolling out the most significant payment changes to Medicare since 1983. Here's what it means for hospitals.

The evaluation of an approach to reflective learning in the undergraduate dental curriculum.

Students in higher education are being encouraged to become active, independent and life-long learners. The use of progress files has been endorsed to encourage this approach. A portfolio intended to fulfil the role of a progress file and to promote student-centred learning and reflection was introduced as a central component of the revised undergraduate degree at the Glasgow Dental School in 2004.