Radiology Today is now available online. Check out our new digital edition, at www.radiologytoday.net/digital/. Our online version contains the entire magazine in a digital format that reads just like a paper edition. Whether you’re reading in the office or on the road, digital Radiology Today means one less thing to stuff into your brief case.

Now the hard job begins. The House and Senate have passed their respective versions of healthcare reform and face the task of reconciling. Here’s a report from House committee staff highlighting key differences between the differing versions. There are more differences than the public option in the House version but not the Senate version.

And here’s an interesting article on what I see as a key issue: Will the final bill help control costs?

James Thrall, MD, chair of the American College of Radiology, gave ABC News an excellent explanation of why airline passengers shouldn’t worry about the radiation danger posed by  new x-ray scanners for airline passengers.  I hope it helps. When you read the comments on the article, you understand how much most people don’t understand about radiation — and how much of a job the medical community has in education people about the issue.

I read this question and reply on CNN.com.  A mother emailed a question to CNN asking whether she had “put her son at risk” for cancer because of a series of CT and MRI scans as well as x-rays the 3-year-old underwent after a traumatic head injury as an infant. CNN correspondent pediatrician Jennifer Shu, MD, pursued an answer from neuroradiologist Rick Woodcock, MD. As you’ll see in the linked article, Woodcock provided an excellent description of radiation risk and risk/benefit analyis for imaging exams. Shu ran Woodcock’s explanation it in her response.

This question and answer seems to related to a common charge leveled at imaging reports—that they too often don’t help the physician making decisions. In this case, the mother asked the pediatrician a question. The pediatrician consulted a radiologist and relayed that information to the patient. But I don’t think the pediatrician’s response answered the patient’s question. Read the rest of this entry »