As a physician I realize that some may think I am being blasphemous by posting this position but, I often wonder, in some cases not all, why we as patients pay so much money for so little time with our physicians. As a matter of fact, it fascinates me that...

The first part of this posting is a sing along... "Wintertime and the livin' ain't always easy" ... Aching backs from those long Black Friday Lines at checkout... slips and falls while skiing, snowboarding or just trying to get to work after a snow or ice storm; along with the...

Last Monday a government task force came out with an opposition to the American Cancer Society's long-standing position that women in their 40's should be getting annual mammograms. The new recommendation states that women should begin getting mammograms at age 50 and limit them to every other year. These guidelines...

Many of you are likely thinking "ho hum, who cares." Read on and I guarantee the next time you go for an X-ray, CT scan, etc., you will think about saying "thank you" to the radiologic technologist who is helping to acquire your image.

Every profession and public issue on...

"All Images (and Imaging) Are Not Created Equal." This is the mantra that my team and I live by. In many of my prior posts I have commented on the role of the radiologist, the importance of training and how these affect the images that are obtained, the diagnosis...

A recent study from Harvard University reported that teaching advanced communication skills and self-hypnotic relaxation techniques to MRI staff members can help them deal more effectively with patients and significantly increase the number of successful scans, even among patients with claustrophobia.

According to a 2007 study published in the...

A recent ABC News story reported that the FDA issued an alert urging hospitals nationwide to review their safety protocols for CT scans.

Why? An unfortunate group of patients who had CT scans at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles received eight times the normal dose of radiation during...

As a specialist who has been practicing musculoskeletal radiology for more than 25 years, I find the recent policy proposal of The National Quality Forum ("National Voluntary Counselors Standards for Outpatient Imaging Efficiency") to be somewhat concerning. I've reached out to senior ranking officials who are responsible for these standards...

I have previously discussed general safety issues about ionizing radiation as it applies to imaging studies (e.g., CT, X-ray, etc.), but thought I would get a little more specific.

It is important to remember that radiation is all around us, naturally present in our environment. The actual...

Self-referral has been a topic in several of my prior postings and recent research from physicians at Georgetown University Children's Medical Center in Washington, DC, helps to support my opinions. Their study, published in the Journal of Critical Care, August 13, 2009, an article from AuntMinnie.com ...

Recently news about the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) and its effect on delivery of healthcare and patients was released. According to a study published in the September issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology, the negative impact of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of...

A few weeks ago I was leisurely sitting on the beach with my husband and daughter. A family of 5 was sitting nearby. They organized their beach chairs, got out the kids' shovels and pails, arranged their umbrella and then the mom distributed a bag of chips to each family...

In a recent RT Image Q&A I was asked about the role of vendors and their efforts to make it more appealing for a private practice to purchase its own equipment. The reporter wanted to know if this is a new trend or something radiologists have always had to...

Over the next few weeks I will be posting excerpts from an article in RT Image. Some of the questions and answers in this piece further highlight my position that "not all medical radiology images are created equal." You can read the full article here.

One of the...

In this posting I will refer to an excerpt from my interview in RT Image. Some of the questions and answers in this piece further highlight my position that "not all images are created equal." This posting specifically focuses on teleradiology as a potential option to physicians who buy their...

I would like to continue to inform potential patients of the various imaging procedures that are performed by radiologists and this week I will discuss myelograms.

A myelogram provides detailed information about the spinal cord and the nerve roots. This information is valuable in helping your doctor make a diagnosis...

This posting provides additional information regarding some of the interventional procedures that radiologists perform. Specifically, this discussion is on tissue sampling, which refers to various procedures that are performed under image guidance to obtain bodily fluids or tissue (e.g., bone, muscle, etc.) for analysis. Percutaneous needle biopsies and aspirations, sinus...

A Primer on X-Rays
You hear the expression "you need an X-ray" at the Doctor's office and although the concept is easy to understand, this primer -- in the form of frequently asked questions -- is focused on providing a better understanding of what that expression means.

What is...

Your doctor ordered the nuclear medicine examination, a bone scan, lung scan, etc.
A nuclear medicine examination relies on specific radioactive isotopes or radiotracers designed to detect specific suspected pathology. Radioactive isotopes emit low dose radiation which can be detected and imaged by a special camera. The isotope...

Over the years the Radiologists at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) have been conducting research on the early detection of osteoarthritis using MRI. Dr. Hollis Potter, Chief, Division of MRI in the Department of Radiology and Imaging, has researched and worked with her colleagues on imaging degenerative changes in cartilage,...