Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR
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Most medical malpractice cases are tried under the civil tort of negligence and are often triggered by adverse outcomes. These proceedings are aimed primarily at determining whether the conduct of a health care provider was reasonable. Such legal actions have mostly been subject to state jurisdiction. ⋯ The result is a serious public health dilemma. The national scope of the problem has been considered a crisis, which has prompted unprecedented federal legislative proposals directed toward providing new and preemptive parameters for capitated noneconomic damages, restrictions on certain civil procedures affecting lawsuit outcomes, and methods for attorney compensation, which some states have either not previously addressed or found unconstitutional. A survey of different states' problems and common issues should assist the reader in understanding the nature of the crisis and proposed solutions.
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Turf wars over medical imaging have become ubiquitous. At many centers, radiologists already have lost access to important technologies and their applications. ⋯ This is the first of an extended series of articles that will address the phenomenon of self-referral--its motivations, extent, and the threats it poses to radiologists. Each article will focus on a specific aspect and provide advice on how radiologists can deal with self-referral in their locales.
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The ACR annually engages in a long-range planning activity called the FORUM on a specific issue deemed important to the specialty of radiology over a horizon of 5 to 10 years. The FORUM brings together experts from multiple disciplines to discuss the topic, develop scenarios, and make recommendations to the ACR and the specialty on what courses to take to improve the development of radiology. ⋯ The sessions ended with numerous recommendations as to how the specialty of radiology could promote safer, higher quality imaging that would also engage the interest and participation of the public, employers, insurers, and government. These fell into the following categories: (1) how to measure the performance of radiologists, (2) how to use measurements of performance to improve quality and safety, (3) means of working with employers and insurers to improve care and reduce waste, (4) the development of new ACR programs intended to foster change, and (5) disseminating information about ACR efforts on behalf of improving quality and safety.