Decision-support guidelines prove effective for breast MRI guidelines

How has the use of clinical decision-support software affected breast MRI use? In this scientific paper presentation, Dr. Vartan Vartanians, a research fellow in radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, will discuss an analysis of 10 years of ordering patterns.

Adding breast MRI to the arsenal of diagnostic imaging exams designed to detect early-stage breast cancer has been controversial since the American Cancer Society issued recommended guidelines for its use with high-risk women in 2007.

Vartanians and colleagues discovered that breast MRI exam utilization steadily increased until 2008, at which point the number of exam orders declined. The hospital implemented a decision-support tool for breast MRI exams in 2008. He will explain the influence of decision support on this trend.