Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR
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The study's purpose was to determine the effectiveness of a didactic lecture for teaching and evaluating radiology resident dictation skills. ⋯ Test scores for PGY 2 to PGY 4 residents significantly increased after didactic instruction on the reporting and communication of diagnostic imaging results. These findings suggest that a lecture and test format can be used to teach and assess radiology resident reporting and communication skills.
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Meta Analysis
Turf wars in radiology: updated evidence on the relationship between self-referral and the overutilization of imaging.
In a previous article in this series, published in 2004, the authors reviewed the medical literature for evidence on the relationship between self-referral and the utilization of imaging. That evidence demonstrated that self-referral led to substantially higher levels of utilization with its attendant increases in cost and the exposure of patients to unnecessary radiation. ⋯ Once again, the evidence clearly indicates that self-referral results in the overutilization of imaging. Because radiologists have an important stake in the matter, it behooves them to be familiar with this recent evidence so they can bring it to the attention of policymakers in their areas.
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To provide a snapshot of the demographics of radiologists providing coverage for emergency departments (EDs) and current imaging practices in EDs in the United States. ⋯ New imaging practices for the evaluation of entities such as chest pain, spine trauma, and abdominal pain and trauma are emerging in EDs. As one plans ED development, these trends should be considered.
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The total number of procedures and their relative value units (RVUs) were used to measure the productivity of radiologists. Besides variations in productivity due to differences in the percentage of clinical effort, baseline productivity also varies among clinical subspecialty sections. The authors' previous research used the full-time equivalent (FTE) as the unit to adjust for differences in the percentage of clinical effort and a set of adjustment factors (or calibration constants) to modify the default work RVUs according to types of procedures. These adjustments led to comparable average productivity measurements across subspecialty sections. Since 2003, radiology practice has continued to change, including the introduction of positron emission tomography/computed tomography into clinical practice, suggesting a need to update the understanding of clinical productivity and refine the authors' adjustment procedure. In this study, the authors analyzed the most recent survey of academic departments and derived updated adjustment factors for differences in workload among subspecialty sections. The results can be used to determine faculty staffing requirements and evaluate radiologists' performance. ⋯ Clinical workload, as measured by RVUs per FTE and adjusted RVUs per FTE, is very useful for determining optimal staffing in subspecialty sections and in radiology departments in general. Workload continues to increase, both in examination complexity and in numbers of overall procedures. Adjustment factors make workload comparisons between subspecialty sections more valid and meaningful.
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To describe the employment market for diagnostic radiologists in 2007-2008, with attention to differences among subspecialties. ⋯ The overall job market remains very much intermediate between the highs and lows that have occurred since 1990, but finding highly desirable jobs is likely to be somewhat more difficult, and filling vacancies somewhat easier, in 2008 than in the past few years. There was a strong indication of a 3% surplus of radiologists in 2007. Interventional radiology, pediatric radiology, and particularly breast imaging are the subspecialties in which positions are most difficult to fill; neuroradiology, general radiology, and nuclear radiology may lie at the opposite end of the spectrum.