Is the debt deal a Satan sandwich for imaging? And, more AAPM coverage

Dear AuntMinnie Member,

The legislation passed this week to raise the U.S. debt ceiling could contain some unpalatable ingredients for the medical imaging community.

Specifically, the Budget Control Act of 2011 could result in even further reductions in Medicare payments if $1.2 trillion in cost savings aren't found to wring from the federal budget by November of this year. That will trigger automatic cuts in federal programs -- including Medicare -- to begin in 2013.

And as anyone who follows the U.S. political landscape knows, when Congress needs to cut Medicare, it usually starts with medical imaging. How could the debt deal affect radiology? Find out in an article by associate editor Kate Madden Yee in our Imaging Leaders Digital Community by clicking here, or visit leaders.auntminnie.com.

More AAPM coverage

Meanwhile, we continue to bring you coverage from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) meeting, which wraps up today in Vancouver.

One of our featured AAPM stories is an article on reducing radiation dose in CT studies through the use of an automated quality assurance software application. Duke University researchers say the program is unique in that it includes patient age and gender in its calculations. Learn more by clicking here.

In other news, Chinese researchers also attacked the CT dose dilemma, this time for image-guided interventional procedures. They developed an imaging protocol that eliminates the need to perform multiple scans of the same anatomical area as interventional devices such as needles are inserted into the body. Find out how they did it by clicking here.