CMIO 2010 Compensation Survey: The Results Are In!

CMIO 2010 Compensation Survey: The Results Are In!
Chief medical information officers and other medical informatics directors tend to love their jobs and want to stick around for a while, even though this is a relatively new position for many organizations, according to a survey of this discipline by CMIO magazine.
Two-thirds of the 118 CMIOs who took the online survey said they were "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" with their compensation and 86 percent indicated they had no immediate plans to leave their jobs. The majority of CMIOs earn between $180,000 and $300,000 annually in base salary, though a third of survey respondents make less than $180,000 a year. Nearly half did not receive a bonus in 2009, reflecting the moribund economy, though 56 percent say they expect to get one this year.
Their top IT priorities for 2010 include reducing medical errors, delivering clinical knowledge to practicing physicians and implementing EMRs, while on the business side, CMIOs are planning on concentrating on EMRs, CPOE and clinical decision support this year.
Other notable findings:
* 93 percent of CMIOs are men
* 68 percent currently practice medicine
* 36 percent report to the CIO, 31 percent to the CMO and 13 percent directly to the CEO
For more data and analysis: - check out this CMIO feature

FDA looking to reduce radiation exposure to patients

FDA looking to reduce radiation exposure to patients: "
With growing reports of unnecessary radiation exposure to patients, the Food and Drug Administration has stepped in to require safety controls that will eliminate excessive radiation doses, and also will work to develop best-practice measures.
Examples of the growing problem include patients who weren't told of radiation exposures in California, veterans receiving incorrect doses in Philadelphia, and a 2009 study that shows increasing radiation exposure to patients.
The average American's total radiation exposure has nearly doubled since 1980, largely because of CT scans, according to recent studies, including one by the New England Journal of Medicine. Medical radiation now accounts for more than half of the population's total radiation exposure; it used to be just one-sixth.
Tuesday's announcement comes five months after FDA began looking into reports of problems with CT scanning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles that went on for 18 months before being noticed. More than 200 patients were exposed to excess radiation.
The FDA's efforts will extend to other high-dose types of radiation procedures, including nuclear medicine and fluoroscopy. Nuclear medicine involves injecting nuclear particles into the body to diagnose problems with organs, such as the heart and lungs. Fluoroscopy uses a continuous X-ray beam to view body parts in real time.
A public hearing is set for March on this initiative, and the FDA will work with CMS to create key quality assurance practices. The FDA will then try to work those practices into the mandatory accreditation and Conditions of Participation processes for imaging facilities and hospitals.
To learn more: Read this FDA press release

ACR Designated a National Medical Imaging Accrediting Body by CMS

ACR Designated a National Medical Imaging Accrediting Body by CMS: "The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has selected the American College of Radiology (ACR), the nation’s oldest and most widely recognized medical imaging and radiation oncology accrediting body, as a designated accrediting organization for medical imaging facilities, able to satisfy all accreditation requirements for providers of advanced medical imaging mandated by the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA)."