Intimate Partner Violence: A Primer for Radiologists to Make the "Invisible" Visible.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the physical, sexual, or emotional violence between current or former partners. It is a major public health issue that affects nearly one out of four women. Nonetheless, IPV is greatly underdiagnosed.

ACR white paper on teleradiology practice: a report from the Task Force on Teleradiology Practice.

Teleradiology services are now embedded into the workflow of many radiology practices in the United States, driven largely by an expanding corporate model of services. This has brought opportunities and challenges to both providers and recipients of teleradiology services and has heightened the need to create best-practice guidelines for teleradiology to ensure patient primacy. To this end, the ACR Task Force on Teleradiology Practice has created this white paper to update the prior ACR communication on teleradiology and discuss the current and possible future state of teleradiology in the United States.

Adrenal imaging: from Addison to algorithms.

Despite their small size, pathologic condition of the adrenal glands is often far from insignificant. Imagers should therefore be familiar with the principles and techniques that underpin the ability of imaging to characterize most lesions. Ignorance of these techniques fails to deliver the necessary imaging value to referrers and patients alike.

Characterization of adrenal masses by using FDG PET: a systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic test performance.

Purpose: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of published data to determine the diagnostic utility of adrenal fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) for distinguishing benign from malignant adrenal disease.

Materials And Methods: Data on FDG PET assessment in MEDLINE and other electronic databases (from inception to November 2009) and in subject matter-specific journals were evaluated and compared with histologic diagnoses and/or established clinical and imaging follow-up results. Methodologic quality was assessed by using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies criteria.

Adrenal imaging.

Adrenal masses are frequently encountered in imaging practices. Simple detection by radiologists is insufficient as many of these masses can now be characterized by imaging alone. Some masses can be characterized by their simple appearances, but most cannot.

Radiologist report turnaround time: impact of pay-for-performance measures.

Objective: Expedited finalized radiologist report turnaround times (RTAT) are considered an important quality care metric in medicine. This study was performed to evaluate the impact of a radiologist pay-for-performance (PFP) program on reducing RTAT.

Materials And Methods: A radiologist PFP program was used to assess its impact on RTAT for all departmental reports from 11 subspecialty divisions.

Incidental adrenal lesions: accuracy of characterization with contrast-enhanced washout multidetector CT--10-minute delayed imaging protocol revisited in a large patient cohort.

Purpose: To reassess the accuracy of the 10-minute delayed scan to differentiate both lipid-rich and lipid-poor lesions in a large cohort of patients.

Materials And Methods: This HIPAA-compliant retrospective study had institutional review board approval; the need for informed consent was waived. A multidetector computed tomography (CT) adrenal protocol (unenhanced, dynamic contrast material-enhanced, and 10-minute delayed CT) was used in 314 consecutive patients (201 women, 113 men; mean age, 63.

From herding cats toward best practices: standardizing the radiologic work process.

Objective: Considerable variation in radiologic procedures, protocols, policies, and workflows exists across the nation, sometimes even within departments. This lack of standardization fosters idiosyncratic behavior and outcomes, undermining the effort to implement best practices across institutions. The purpose of this article is to discuss the need for rapidly implementing recognized standards and best practices when they exist.

Enhancing mutual understanding between radiology chairs and hospital CEOs.

Many radiologists work in hospital-based practices, and many hospitals rely on radiology for revenue to sustain their other health care programs and keep patients' and referring physicians' satisfaction high. It is vital that radiology department chairs and hospital CEOs work well together. Yet they often come from very different backgrounds and operate with very different sets of assumptions and objectives.

ACR White Paper: Task Force to Evaluate the Value Add Impact on Business Models.

Radiology practices are seeing both evolutionary and revolutionary changes in their business models. The Task Force to Evaluate the Value Add Impact on Business Models was charged with considering how radiologists and their practices add value in these novel settings. Both traditional and novel forms of added value were considered.

The evolving radiology landscape: the importance of effective leadership.

Advances in technology and imaging techniques have propelled radiology into the centre of diagnostic and therapeutic medicine. However, all this success has come at a price, with radiology departments persistently struggling to keep up with increasing demand. In response, radiologists in many countries are giving up an increasing proportion of their traditional workload, often driven by teleradiology, causing them to become less visible within their organizations.

Visibility of radiologists: helping to secure your future.

Objective: The success of imaging services has been driven, in large part, by radiologists, who arguably became the most visible physicians within their organizations. But this success came at a price, and many groups have sought ways to reduce their traditional responsibilities. In doing so, they have given away one of their strongest assets, their visibility.

PET/CT for the characterization of adrenal masses in patients with cancer: qualitative versus quantitative accuracy in 150 consecutive patients.

Objective: The objective of our study was to evaluate a large cohort of patients with PET/CT to determine whether qualitative (visual) assessment, quantitative standardized uptake value (SUV), or standardized uptake ratio (SUR) techniques should be used when attempting to characterize adrenal masses in patients with cancer.

Materials And Methods: The study group was composed of 150 consecutive patients (78 men, 72 women; mean age, 60 years; range, 24-88 years) with documented adrenal lesions. All patients were known to have an underlying primary malignancy and were referred for PET/CT to evaluate the underlying primary and metastatic tumor burden.

Incidental adrenal lesions: principles, techniques, and algorithms for imaging characterization.

Incidental adrenal lesions are commonly detected at computed tomography, and lesion characterization is critical, particularly in the oncologic patient. Imaging tests have been developed that can accurately differentiate these lesions by using a variety of principles and techniques, and each is discussed in turn. An imaging algorithm is provided to guide radiologists toward the appropriate test to make the correct diagnosis.

Hospital-owned and operated outpatient imaging centers: strategies for success.

Dedicated outpatient imaging centers offer hospitals an opportunity to meet stakeholder expectations, maximize market share, and increase revenue. However, because outpatient imaging centers operate according to different business strategies and principles compared with hospital-based operations, many hospitals are challenged to operate outpatient facilities effectively. This article addresses those strategies designed to maximize patient referral and profitability for hospital-owned and operated outpatient imaging centers.

Enhancing CT productivity: strategies for increasing capacity.

Objective: This article will identify strategies and tactics that can be used to enhance CT capacity. The potential financial benefits to the organization and the impact on market share will be discussed.

Conclusion: Many organizations are challenged to meet stakeholder demands of providing additional CT capacity and reduction of patient waiting lists.