Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 is expanding the use of quality measurement and promulgating new payment models that place downward pressure on health care utilization and costs. As emergency department (ED) computed tomography utilization has tripled in the past decade, stakeholders have identified advanced imaging as an area where quality and efficiency measures should expand. ⋯ S. government. This article discusses the content of the panel's presentations.
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The objective was to evaluate variation in the current estimated radiation dose index for pediatric cervical spine (c-spine) computed tomography (CT) examinations. ⋯ There is significant variation in the radiation dose index for pediatric c-spine CT examinations. Pediatric hospitals practice at lower CT dose estimates than other hospitals. Individual hospitals should examine their practices in an effort to ensure standardization and optimization of CT parameters to minimize radiation exposures to pediatric patients.