Non Radiologists Receive Medicare Payments For Medical Imaging More Than Radiologists

According to a study, appearing in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR), Medicare payments for non-invasive medical screening, involving computed tomography (CT) scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are lower to radiologists than to non radiologists.

  

David C. Levin, MD, lead author of the study mentioned that “Radiologists have always been considered the physicians who “control” non-invasive diagnostic imaging (NDI) and are primarily responsible for its growth. Yet non-radiologists have become increasingly aggressive in their performance and interpretation of imaging".

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Non Radiologists Receive Medicare Payments For Medical Imaging More Than Radiologists

PET Used To Study Epilepsy In Children

According to a recent study, positron emission tomography (PET) scans are able to provide an assessment and determine prognosis of cases of cognitive dysfunction of fever-induced refractory epileptic encephalopathy in school-age children (FIRES). The findings of the study were published in the January issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
FIRES is a recently-identified disorder that develops in healthy children. Subjects suffer a brief fever followed by acute seizures that are highly resistant to medication and these seizures continue for several weeks. Once they stop, children experience severe cognitive dysfunction, affecting mainly the functions of language, memory and behavior.
The study was titled "18F-FDG PET Reveals Frontotemporal Dysfunction in Children with Fever-Induced Refractory Epileptic Encephalopathy," It involved 8 children identified to have FIRES. The participants underwent neuropsychologic evaluations, brain MRI and 18F-FDG PET scans. Researchers reported severe cognitive dysfunction in each child; MRI scans did not show any brain abnormalities in these children, while PET scans indicated that they were suffering significant cognitive impairment.

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PET Used To Study Epilepsy In Children

Risks Of Radiation Exposure Is Increasing Among Children

U-M research reveals that children are more frequently exposed to medical imaging procedures that utilize radiation. Adam L. Dorfman, M.D., clinical assistant professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases and of radiology at the U-M Medical School says that it was found that the continuous use of these techniques should be noticed by healthcare providers, hospitals and parents. He adds "Despite it is necessary to utilize imaging tests to get good care, the increasing number of these techniques make question arises about whether we are wisely using this technology".
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 Risks Of Radiation Exposure Is Increasing Among Children