The American Society of Breast Disease (ASBD) has issued a statement contradicting information published in a study in the May 2 issue of
Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), comparing breast brachytherapy to whole breast irradiation.
It’s no surprise that when a proposed rule on meaningful use is revealed, a litany of organizations want their voices heard. May 7 was the last day to submit comments to the Stage 2 meaningful use proposed rule to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and five organizations have joined the din of democratic speech on the legislation.
The Federation of State Medical Boards' House of Delegates has released new policy guidelines on the appropriate use of social media and social networking sites by physicians.
Accelerated partial breast irradiation is more effective in preventing local breast cancer recurrence than whole breast irradiation, according to a study presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS) annual meeting in Phoenix, May 2-6.
If randomized controlled clinical trials are the gold standard for advancing knowledge in medical care, then the research community has been panning more particles than nuggets. That is the finding of a comprehensive analysis that focused on cardiovascular, mental health and oncology interventional trials. “Most of the trials are quite small,” author Robert M. Califf, MD, said in an interview.
Older women treated with breast brachytherapy may be less likely to preserve their breasts and face more complications than women undergoing whole-breast irradiation, according to a study published May 2 in the
Journal of the American Medical Association.
Sharing clinical data electronically is a critical challenge for fixing the healthcare system, according to a viewpoint report published this week in the
Journal of the American Medical Association.
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| Source: The Cleveland Clinic |
Among older patients with isolated intact abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), the use of open repair compared with endovascular repair was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality and AAA-related mortality, based on a large retrospective analysis of Medicare data published April 18 in the
Journal of the American Medical Association.
In the wake of a study published April 17 in the
Journal of the American Medical Association (
JAMA) which reported an increased incidence of gastrointestinal morbidity among men with prostate cancer treated with proton therapy compared with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), proton therapy providers have rallied to dispute the findings and study methodology.
Treatment of localized prostate cancer with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) may provide improved disease control with less morbidity than conformal radiation therapy, according to an analysis published April 17 in the
Journal of the American Medical Association. However, proton therapy did not appear to provide additional benefits for these patients.
The addition of a screening ultrasound or MRI exam to annual mammography in women with an increased risk of breast cancer and dense breast tissue resulted in a higher rate of detection of incident breast cancers, according to a study published April 4 in
the Journal of the American Medical Association. The authors noted downsides to both modalities, reinforcing the notion there may be no easy answer to the question of how to best deliver supplemental screening to women with an increased risk of breast cancer.
The American Medical Association (AMA), along with state and national medical specialty societies, have sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expressing serious concern about an onslaught of overlapping regulations that affect physicians. Programs with overlapping timelines include the value-based modifier, penalties under the e-prescribing program, physician quality reporting system and EHR incentive program, along with the transition to ICD-10.
CHICAGO—In patients with large anterior STEMI presenting early after symptom onset and undergoing primary PCI with bivalirudin (Angiomax, The Medicines Company) anticoagulation, infarct size at 30 days was significantly reduced by bolus intracoronary abciximab (ReoPro, Eli Lilly) delivered to the infarct lesion site but not by manual aspiration thrombectomy, according to INFUSE-AMI, a late-breaking clinical trial presented March 25 at the 61st annual American College of Cardiology’s (ACC) scientific session.
The American Medical Association (AMA) applauded the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s decision to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a panel which, according to AMA President-elect Jeremy Lazarus, MD, would have “too little accountability and the power to make indiscriminate cuts that adversely affect access to healthcare for patients.”
Most U.S. medical licensing authorities reported incidents of online professionalism violations by physicians, many of which resulted in serious disciplinary actions, according to a survey published March 21 in the
Journal of American Medical Association.
An imaging efficiency measure developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reduce CT scans in emergency departments does not accurately determine which hospitals are performing CT scans inappropriately, according to a study published Feb. 23 online in
Annals of Emergency Medicine.
A tentative deal is in place that will continue to hold off the 27.4 percent cut in Medicare physician payment rates, though it will be paid for with cuts to other federal healthcare funding.
Among postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, increasing age was associated with a higher risk of death from breast cancer regardless of competing mortality and independent of tumor and treatment characteristics, according to a study in the Feb. 8 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association.
Allowing people to purchase over-the-counter (OTC) medications at local drugstores provides the U.S. healthcare system $102 billion in profits annually, and each dollar spent on OTCs saves $6 to $7 for the healthcare system, according to a white paper released Jan. 31 by Consumer Healthcare Products Association. Without OTCs, an additional 56,000 medical practitioners would be needed to assist with the increase in office visits, which would not bode well for the current physician shortage.
The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) urged the healthcare community to continue preparing for the transition to the ICD-10 classification system, warning that the U.S. Congress may not act on requests to stop ICD-10 implementation and let stakeholders design and adopt a new classification system to replace ICD-9-CM.
