Recent Trends in Academic Versus Nonacademic Radiologist Compensation and Clinical Productivity.

Background: Recent radiologist compensation and clinical productivity trends have not been well characterized, especially across academic versus nonacademic practice settings.

Purpose: To assess recent trends in in financial compensation and clinical productivity between academic and nonacademic settings in diagnostic radiology (DR) and interventional radiology (IR).

Materials And Methods: We studied deidentified data from the Medical Group Management Association for both DR and IR physicians in academic and nonacademic practices from 2014 to 2023.

Patient Engagement in Neuroradiology: A Narrative Review and Case Studies.

The field of patient engagement in radiology is evolving and offers ample opportunities for neuroradiologists to become involved. The patient journey can serve as a model that inspires patient engagement initiatives. The patient journey in radiology may be viewed in 5 stages: 1) awareness that an imaging test is needed, 2) considering having a specific imaging test, 3) access to imaging, 4) imaging service delivery, and 5) ongoing care.

Malpractice Litigation Related to Diagnosis and Treatment of Intracranial Aneurysms.

Background And Purpose: Approaches to management of intracranial aneurysms are inconsistent, in part due to apprehension relating to potential malpractice claims. The purpose of this article was to review the causes of action underlying medical malpractice lawsuits related to the diagnosis and management of intracranial aneurysms and to identify the factors associated and their outcomes.

Materials And Methods: We consulted 2 large legal databases in the United States to search for cases in which there were jury awards and settlements related to the diagnosis and management of patients with intracranial aneurysms in the United States.

Novel Quality Measure Set: Closing the Completion Loop on Radiology Follow-up Recommendations for Noncritical Actionable Incidental Findings.

Background: Care gaps occur when radiology follow-up recommendations are poorly communicated or not completed, resulting in missed or delayed diagnosis potentially leading to worse patient outcomes. This ACR-led initiative assembled a technical expert panel (TEP) to advise development of quality measures intended to improve communication and drive increased completion rates for radiology follow-up recommendations.

Materials And Methods: A multistakeholder TEP was assembled to advise the development of quality measures.

Closing the Compliance Loop on Follow-Up Imaging Recommendations: Comparing Radiologists' and Administrators' Attitudes.

Purpose: To compare non-physician healthcare professional and radiologists' survey responses regarding attitudes and current practices, policies, and procedures related to the follow-up of nonemergent actionable incidental findings (AIF).

Materials And Methods: The American College of Radiology (ACR) developed a survey with input from a technical expert panel (TEP). Survey items were developed by TEP members, refined by an ACR market research expert, and were examined for face and construct validity.

Identifying tests related to breast cancer care in claims data.

To develop a method for calculating rates of testing for breast cancer recurrence in patients who have already undergone initial treatment for breast cancer, we calculated rates in a cohort of Medicare breast cancer patients and an age-matched noncancer cohort. We first used only tests with claims including diagnosis codes indicating invasive breast cancer and then used all tests regardless of diagnosis code. For each method, we calculated testing rates in the breast cancer cohort above the background rate in the noncancer population.

Palliative care and imaging utilisation for patients with cancer.

Objective: This observational study explores the association between palliative care (PC) involvement and high-cost imaging utilisation for patients with cancer patients during the last 3 months of life.

Methods: Adult patients with cancer who died between 1 January 2012 and 31 May 2015 were identified. Referral to PC, intensity of PC service use, and non-emergent oncological imaging utilisation were determined.

Economic and Societal Aspects of Stroke Management.

Stroke is a major health burden worldwide with attendant mortality, morbidity, and cost. In 2010, there were approximately 16.9 million strokes and an estimated 33 million stroke survivors worldwide.

Developing Quality Measures for Diagnostic Radiologists: Part 2.

The ACR convened a cross-specialty, multidisciplinary technical expert panel to identify and define new measures for quality improvement. These measures can be included in the ACR's National Radiology Data Registry and potentially used in the CMS quality reporting programs. The technical expert panel was tasked with developing measures that reflect the most rigorous clinical evidence and address areas most in need of performance improvement.

Developing Quality Measures for Diagnostic Radiologists: Part 1.

The ACR convened a cross-specialty, multidisciplinary technical expert panel to identify and define new measures for quality improvement. These measures can be included in the ACR's National Radiology Data Registry and potentially used in the CMS quality reporting programs. The technical expert panel was tasked with developing measures that reflect the most rigorous clinical evidence and address areas most in need of performance improvement.

Geographic Variation in Postoperative Imaging for Low-Risk Breast Cancer.

The objective of this study was to examine the presence and magnitude of US geographic variation in use rates of both recommended and high-cost imaging in young patients with early-stage breast cancer during the 18 month period after surgical treatment of their primary tumor. Using the Truven Health MarketScan Commercial Database, a descriptive analysis was conducted of geographic variation in annual rates of dedicated breast imaging and high-cost body imaging of 36,045 women aged 18 to 64 years treated with surgery for invasive unilateral breast cancer between 2010 and 2012. Multivariate hierarchical analysis examined the relationship between likelihood of imaging and patient characteristics, with metropolitan statistical area (MSA) serving as a random effect.

Assessing the Recall Rate for Screening Mammography: Comparing the Medicare Hospital Compare Dataset With the National Mammography Database.

Objective: High-quality screening mammography has been shown to substantially reduce mortality from breast cancer. Recall rate is a principal performance metric for screening mammography because it directly relates to the rate of false-positive examinations. This study aims to compare the recall rate derived using two sources-the claims-based Hospital Compare (HC) dataset from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services versus the National Mammography Database (NMD) from the American College of Radiology-to understand the implications in pay-for-performance and quality improvement activities.

Management of Incidental Pituitary Findings on CT, MRI, and F-Fluorodeoxyglucose PET: A White Paper of the ACR Incidental Findings Committee.

The ACR Incidental Findings Committee presents recommendations for managing pituitary findings that are incidentally detected on CT, MRI and F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET. The Pituitary Subcommittee, which included radiologists practicing neuroradiology and an endocrinologist, developed this algorithm. The recommendations draw from published evidence and expert opinion and were finalized by informal iterative consensus.