By the year 2050, the number of Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to triple to 14 million people. The dramatic rise in 2050 is expected to cost American society $1 trillion in today’s dollars. $1 trillion would include a nearly FIVE-FOLD increase in government spending in Medicare and Medicaid. In 2016, one in every five Medicare dollars was … Read More
Lung Cancer Staging and Imaging Options
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is an emerging modality in lung cancer staging. It allows for combination of functional and anatomic assessment of lesions, especially useful in detecting nodal involvement or metastatic spread. Tumor cells have a higher than normal metabolism, detect on PET by their increased glucose uptake, which makes PET an excellent modality to classify indeterminate lesions, thus reducing … Read More
What’s the value of nuclear medicine?
Nuclear medicine is a safe, painless, and cost-effective way of gathering information that may otherwise be unavailable or require a more expensive and risky diagnostic test. One unique aspect of a nuclear medicine test is its extreme sensitivity to abnormalities in an organ’s structure or function. As an integral part of patient care, nuclear medicine is used in the diagnosis, … Read More
Why is a radiologist’s report important?
As outlined by the American College of Radiology, there are over 15 components of a radiology report. The length of the report should have some relationship to the complexity and cost of the exam. It should have pertinent positive and negative findings and address any specific clinical concerns. All important findings need to be stated first and any incidental findings … Read More
Cost vs. Convenience — what if you could have both?
Capitol Imaging Services asks the question, “cost versus convenience — what if you could have both?” Which would you rather have in your health care: convenience or low cost? Oftentimes, when choosing one, the other is sacrificed. If you have ever had an x-ray, MRI or CT scan, you are well aware of the expense involved. However, choosing to get … Read More
Research: hospital outpatient prices much higher for identical services
According to research published by the National Institute for Health Care Reform, average hospital outpatient department prices for common imaging, colonoscopy and laboratory service can be DOUBLE THE PRICE for identical services provided in a physician’s office or other community-based setting, such as an independent provider, i.e. Diagnostic Imaging Services. Using private insurance claims data for nearly 600,000 active and … Read More
From a cancer survivor…
D.I.S. shares a short video about one person’s road to surviving cancer, and the role PET/CT played in her experience. PET/CT is an imaging tool that combines two scan techniques in one exam – a PET scan and a CT scan. PET/CT is mainly used for diagnosis, staging or re-staging malignant disease and metastases and evaluation of treatment response. It … Read More
What is the role of a radiologist within health care?
Radiologists are doctors who specialize in the diagnosis of disease through interpreting imaging exams. Many patients would be surprised to know that after they get an imaging study, there is a physician behind the scenes who carefully reviews all of their images, and uses the provided clinical history to form a diagnosis! Radiologists interpret radiographs (x-rays), ultrasound, nuclear medicine exams, … Read More