Category: Radiology

Radiation oncologists aren’t just strangers in the basement

“We have a consult for radiation oncology regarding a 60-year-old gentleman with a history of lung cancer and is currently admitted. His oncologist is Dr. Heme Onc.” As a new radiation oncology resident, I was surprised to hear the consulting physician…

Will artificial intelligence be able to have this conversation?

Transformation of health care is underway: The landscape is filled with innovation, and the horizon is dotted with technological possibilities of “Star Trek” ilk. In a recent New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst article, there was a compelling argu…

Why would any woman discourage a man’s advocacy or support?

A male interventional radiologist who is active in the #HeForShe campaign recently told me that he is being pressured to stop advocating for women. My first instinct was the biggest sigh and eyeroll of my life followed by thoughts of locker room peer p…

How a radiology trick can surprisingly help your finances

One of the great teaching experiences in a young medical student or resident’s life is to be placed in front of his or her peers with an attending physician quizzing him or her on the spot about a particular patient. Often, when radiology imaging…

MOC: When you play the game and they change the rules

I think one of the biggest frustrations I have as a doctor is being at the mercy of people who either have no medical training or are so detached from medicine that they have lost touch with those on the front line. The American Board of Radiology (ABR…

An approach to prior authorization insurance denials

Patient access to care is a high priority for all neurosurgeons. Unfortunately, many of our practices are thwarted in these efforts from unwarranted insurance denials. Know, you are not alone. Take this common scenario: When Ms. Mary Smith (not the pat…

A radiologist saved my father’s life

My dad flew to California in the spring to meet his grandson, who was about five months old at the time. He wasn’t that interested in baby care. He mostly wanted to sight-see and spend the evenings watching TV. One weekday morning, he ventured out on a…

Why do we still use CD-ROMs for radiology images?

In the United States, any person who has tried getting their own (or their patient’s) radiology images from another hospital or practice will find the practice painful. Here are several obvious reasons why the CD-ROM — briefly the darling of large data…

When physicians order tests: a tale of 2 patients

Sometimes things go just the way you want them to, and sometimes they don’t. Compare and contrast the case of two different patients, and how things went trying to get them the care they needed. The first patient, let’s call him Mr. Smith, called up one day last week with a brand-new symptom, which after […]

Technologists drive quality in medical imaging

As a radiologist, I interpret thousands of imaging studies every year. Of the millions of medical images that have crossed my screen, they all have one thing in common. They were all acquired by a technologist in the radiology department. Imaging technologists perform a vital role in medicine. All have specialized training that is unique […]