An acquaintance of mine who, like me, has inflammatory bowel disease, received a call recently from her local hospital informing her they had lost her MRI images. They found them, but she is concerned they will have to retake them anyway because at this point her images are no longer current enough for the doctor to make an informed treatment decision. This is a prime example of why all hospitals should use electronic health records (EHRs). At a time when health IT (HIT) companies are cropping up faster than Starbucks coffee shops, and the federal government is handing out incentive...
Ah, modern medical imaging. You can bet your car payment that I get a lot of mileage out of medical imaging as the Washington editor for Medical Device Daily. All those cuts under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 have just littered the Washington roundup practically since the day I took this job. What's not to like? Still, imaging is not just another pretty face or another bunch of pretty pictures, as the doctors like to say. There's some real substance to modern imaging technology beyond providing the occasional nutcase at...
So far I’ve chronicled my visit to Canada by focusing on what I’ve learned so far about the country’s focused efforts on growing its medical device industry – which is, of course, the primary purpose of the Advanced Medical Devices Media Tour, organized by the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation (MEDI). But in addition...
As most of the U.S. population prepares for the rapidly-approaching Thanksgiving holiday, I will be visiting our neighbor to the north, feasting my eyes on all that Ontario has to offer in the way of advanced medical devices. Medical Device Daily has been invited by the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation (MEDI) to participate in a medical device media tour of the Canadian province. Throughout my visit, I plan to post frequent blogs here about my experience on the tour and what I learn about Ontario’s medical device industry. I also plan...
I went to see my doctor a few weeks ago for a physical. Since I just turned 40, he recommended that I have a CT scan to check for calcification in my heart valves. Maybe I would have said "no," when he mentioned that the cost would not be covered by insurance, but his cautionary tale about a person he knew who had collapsed and died of a heart attack at the age of 42 persuaded me that maybe this was a good idea after all. I went in for the test yesterday and the entire procedure took less than...
Late last month, the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN; Philadelphia) along with the National Cancer Institute’s Lung Screening Study Group released the results of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST). The study supports the idea that CT Screening in older, heavy smokers can reduce mortality rates by 20% compared to standard chest X-rays. Nearly 53,000 current and heavy smokers between the ages of 55 and 74 at 33 sites across the U.S. were enrolled in NLST. (See full study here) It should be pointed out however that the study results show that CT Screening in these patients turned up a high...
When one thinks about countries that are hotbeds for medical technology innovation, Israel would not likely be at the top of anyone’s list. But people in the know will tell you that this small country, with a population of just a shade over 7.5 million people, has a reputation for being a tireless innovator in the field, with countries from all over the world flocking there to study their business model. According to the Israeli Life Science Industry, an advocacy group, the med-tech industry is also young and growing. Of the currently operating 702 companies, 56% were founded during the...
Now that the U.S. House of Representatives has voted down a higher debt ceiling for the U.S. government, Congress can go back the drawing board on deciding how many Medicare spending cuts the voters and stakeholders can stomach, but as always, there are pockets of concern within the larger picture. The picture for device makers is somewhat complicated in part because the Medicare Part B “doc fix” is a $30 billion-a-year overhang that will be tough to resolve, not just because of the positions taken up on each side of Capitol Hill. On the Senate side, Kent Conrad (D-North...
Top 10 reasons interventional cardiologists should be happy By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor Dear Interventional Cardiologist, Worried about Medicare reimbursement for the Next Great Stent? Concerned that FDA's massive regulatory girth will squash your drug-eluting balloon groove? Not to worry. Here are the top 10 reasons you should be thrilled with your choice of specialty. Number 10: PCI numbers are flat of late, but just watch that Baby Boom fill your waiting room in the years to come. Number 9: The transradial (through the wrist) route is gaining acceptance as an approach to coronary intervention. Number 8:...
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