AHIMA and the American Hospital Association suggest health care facilities' coding guidelines include provisions to delay coding inpatient admissions and outpatient encounters when COVID-19 is suspected until test results are available, and querying providers when test results and clinical diagnoses disagree. Physician Erica Remer offers guidelines for coding and querying when tests and clinical evaluations are discordant.
Digital health technology can help clinicians diagnose, monitor, treat and predict patients' depression, but privacy and accuracy are significant concerns, according to a literature review presented at the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology's annual meeting. The researchers found many health apps lack substantial evidence of safety and efficacy, are not well regulated, can be breached, are prone to misinterpretation, and do not make data ownership or collection policies clear.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health is now reporting active and recovered COVID-19 cases only by county and will no longer publish data by city, ZIP code or facility since the state's emergency declaration expired. Department officials are exploring legal options for ensuring that the public, health care providers and elected leaders can obtain relevant data.
A machine-learning algorithm identified patients with breast cancer who are most at risk of suffering treatment-related financial stress, researchers reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2020 Virtual Scientific Program. Researchers say the algorithm could guide treatment decisions and planning to alleviate financial burdens.
Eli Lilly's and Co.'s Cyramza, or ramucirumab, combined with Roche's Tarceva, or erlotinib, gained FDA approval as a first-line therapy for patients with previously untreated non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations. The approval was based on data from a randomized late-stage trial that included 449 treatment-naive patients.
Second-quarter data from the Medical Imaging Confidence Index showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a drop in confidence among radiology administrators and imaging center directors about business prospects for the next quarter, compared with the prior quarter and the same period last year. Respondents had the lowest confidence in achieving interventional and diagnostic radiology growth but were most confident that internal operating and staff expenses won't change, according to the poll.
Radiology practices can begin their post-pandemic recovery marketing efforts by providing talk tracks for reception and scheduling staff about patient protections against COVID-19, informing patients of additional screening measures put in place, and developing and promoting check-in procedures that reduce wait times and preserve social distancing, says David Wilson of Hitachi Healthcare Americas. Practices should also add more locations and hours of operation to address imaging backlogs, Wilson says.
F-18 FDG-PET/MRI found that individuals with mitral valve prolapse and ventricular ectopy had tracer uptake indicating myocardial inflammation and ischemia, according to a study in JAMA Cardiology. However, researchers said further studies are needed to determine whether FDG uptake correlates with elevated metabolic demand, myocardial ischemia, myocardial inflammation or ventricular arrhythmias among those with mitral valve prolapse, as well the as the effects of FDG uptake burden and distribution in overall prognosis.
Researchers found that diffusion MRI with the new criterion of one or more positive brain regions -- including the putamen, caudate, thalamus, and the frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal lobe cortices -- yielded greater specificity in diagnosing sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a prion disorder, than diffusion MRI with old criteria, and had better accuracy and sensitivity, as well as similar specificity, in sCJD diagnosis, compared with cerebrospinal testing. The findings in JAMA Neurology "suggest that diffusion MRI is an accurate test for establishing a diagnosis of prion diseases in the appropriate clinical context," researchers wrote.
Radiology practices and other medical offices not based at hospitals are in critical need of personal protective equipment, and the American College of Radiology is among the professional organizations that have been requesting federal help. The American Medical Association also began a campaign to secure protective masks and gowns as well as disinfectants and hand sanitizers, and the group says the federal government should set up a clearinghouse to help secure access to PPE and infection-control products.