2018 Rothman Institute Workers’ Compensation Conference
/in News /by adminIt was a pleasure meeting you at the Rothman Institute’s Workers’ Compensation conference! At Princeton Radiology, we know that accidents, illnesses, and injuries can be as much of a reality in the workplace as they are on the field. That’s why we’re committed to being part of the team to help get valued employees back in the game— by providing seamless access to quality diagnostic care, with subspecialty expertise and the latest technology available at five convenient locations.
- Comprehensive depth and breadth of subspecialty diagnostic expertise relevant to occupational injuries and illnesses.
- Prompt reporting of results.
- Easy access to images and reports by other providers and case managers involved in the patient’s care.
- EMR integration.
- Administrative and billing teams ready to support your case management documentation needs.
- Radiologists accessible for consultation if needed.
- Fast scheduling, minimal wait times, and ample hours—including evenings and weekends.
- Ability to accommodate urgent scheduling requests.
- Comfortable, positive imaging experience in appealing facilities.
- Five Central New Jersey locations, easily accessible to patients.
To assist a patient with scheduling: 609.921.8211 or Request an Appointment
To arrange a consultation with a radiologist or reach our billing, administrative, or medical records teams: 609.921.8211
For help with provider PACS access: 609.375.2992
To request referral forms and supplies, or connect with a marketing representative in your area: (732) 821-5563 x. 1281
New Jersey Law Now Requires Insurers to Cover 3D Mammograms—Including 3D SmartMamm™ at Princeton Radiology.
/in News /by adminInsurance Requirements Under New Jersey Law Beginning August 2018
Health insurers, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and health benefits plans and contracts
must now cover
- 3D mammograms to screen for breast cancer in women age 40 and over
- 3D mammograms to diagnose or rule out breast cancer in women of any age when breast cancer is suspected
This mandate is effective for fully insured health plans and the State Health Benefits Program issued or renewed on or after August 1, 2018. Self-funded health plans can choose to offer this mandated benefit.
Benefits of 3D SmartMamm™
- 3D mammography for enhanced detection of breast cancer at its earliest, most treatable stage
- Especially beneficial to women with dense breast tissue, which makes cancer harder to see
- Lifetime risk assessment to help you and your doctor formulate a proactive monitoring plan
- Same day results available
- Convenient access at five locations with appointment times seven days a week
Now there’s no reason to delay your 3D SmartMamm™.
New MRI Contrast
/in News /by admin2018 GFR NO LONGER NECESSARY FOR CONTRAST MRI
AT ALL PRINCETON RADIOLOGY PRIVATE IMAGING OFFICES
Princeton Radiology is dedicated to providing the safest and most accurate imaging for your diagnostic needs. To that end, we have recently changed the gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) that is used throughout our practice for contrast enhanced MRI studies.
After extensive research and review, Princeton Radiology has selected Dotarem® (gadoterate meglumine) as our GBCA of choice. Dotarem is the only macrocyclic and ionic gadolinium-based contrast agent available in the United States and demonstrates the highest intrinsic stability and lowest retention with excellent diagnostic characteristics.
Dotarem has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for intravenous use in pediatric patients under two years old, including term neonates. Dotarem is approved in 79 countries worldwide and more than 65 million doses have been administered since it was first launched. There have been no unconfounded cases of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis reported for Dotarem.
Assessment of renal function prior to contrast enhanced MRI studies is no longer required due to Dotarem’s stability and low retention.
Princeton Radiology will continue to assess advancements in GBCA’s and modify clinical practice accordingly as new data becomes available.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Princeton Radiology Associates, P.A.
IDEAS Study (Alzheimer’s)
/in News /by adminPrinceton Radiology Participated in Largest Brain Amyloid Scan Research Study
Princeton Radiology is a registered PET imaging site for the Imaging Dementia – Evidence for Amyloid Scanning (IDEAS) study
sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association and managed by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) from February 2016 to the study’s conclusion in December 2017. Princeton Radiology offered Medicare-covered amyloid PET scans to study eligible Medicare patients who were referred by participating IDEAS dementia specialists (neurologists, psychiatrists and geriatric medicine physicians). The research study sought to determine the clinical usefulness of PET imaging of brain amyloid deposits in the diagnosis of patients who are being evaluated for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease is complex. With no single test currently available, diagnosis is based on an individual’s history, physical examination and cognitive testing. Amyloid PET imaging represents a potential major advance in the assessment of people with cognitive impairment. The scan visualizes plaques present in the brain that are prime suspects in damaging and killing nerve cells in Alzheimer’s. Before amyloid PET, these plaques could only be detected by examining the brain at autopsy. The IDEAS study gathered data from Medicare beneficiaries to determine if amyloid PET scans help physicians to make more informed treatment decisions.
For more information about the IDEAS study, visit: http://www.ideas-study.org/
Freehold Radiology is now a Princeton Radiology Practice
/in News /by adminAfter thoughtful discussion between both practices on how our teams could best collaborate, Princeton Radiology merged with Freehold Radiology on October 23, 2017. The merger extends Princeton Radiology’s services into Monmouth County allowing us to provide more of Central New Jersey with exceptional diagnostic imaging and interventional radiology services.
We fully expect the merger to enhance our already-exemplary standards to still-higher levels by creating an even greater depth of subspecialty expertise, complementing our team with the skillset of Freehold Radiology’s distinguished physicians.
As a practice that has always been committed to striving for the best for our community, we look forward to the benefits this integration will provide to our patients and their referring physicians. In a word, our community can expect MORE—more expertise, more accessibility, more services, with:
- Five office locations
- 36 board certified radiologists
- 90+ years of combined commitment to excellence
- More appointment times, including evenings and weekends
- More service offerings
- More of the latest, most advanced technology
- More participation with all major insurance plans
Over the coming months, we will be working to combine the two practices clinically, operationally, and culturally. You may notice some changes that reflect our expanded practice, but the excellent standard of service you have always received from Princeton Radiology will remain the same—enhanced by the expertise of more physicians.
In this energizing time of change, questions from patients are to be expected. Please contact our scheduling team at 609.921.8211 with any questions about the merger.
Thank you for the opportunity to have served your medical imaging needs in the past. We look forward to a bright future, collaborating with our new colleagues from Freehold Radiology to help build a healthier community by expanding access to Excellence in Imaging.
HEALTH MATTERS: Innovative Treatments Target Liver Cancer
/in News /by adminDid you know that the incidence of primary liver cancer has more than tripled since 1980?
More than 40,000 Americans will be diagnosed with primary liver cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society. And thousands of others will be diagnosed with secondary (metastatic) liver cancer, cancer that spreads to the liver after starting somewhere else in the body.
While surgery remains the gold standard for treating liver cancer, advances in medicine have made more treatment options available, especially for patients who may not be able to tolerate surgery or in cases where tumors are too large to be removed safely.
At the Edward & Marie Matthews Cancer Center at University Medical Center of Princeton, patients have access to a full range of services for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, including liver cancer.
Liver Basics
Your liver is your largest internal organ and is positioned under your right ribs just beneath your right lung. It consists of two lobes, and weighs a total of about 3 pounds. It is also unique in that it has two blood supplies — the portal vein and the hepatic artery.
Your liver performs many vital functions including removing toxins from your blood, breaking down and storing nutrients that power your body and repair tissues, and producing bile to help your body absorb nutrients.
Many primary liver cancers are related to the hepatitis B or hepatitis C virus, which increase the risk for liver cancer. Other common risk factors include:
Gender. More men develop liver cancer than women.
Cirrhosis. A disease that causes scarring of the liver and is most associated with alcohol abuse and hepatitis, cirrhosis increases the risk for liver cancer.
Diabetes. Type 2 diabetes has been linked with an increased risk of liver cancer, usually in patients who have other risk factors such as heavy alcohol use, chronic viral hepatitis, or a combination of the two.
Obesity. Obesity can increase the risk for liver cancer as it is associated with diabetes as well as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which can lead to cirrhosis.
In addition, liver cancer can also be caused by other cancers that have started elsewhere in the body and metastasized to the liver. Metastatic liver cancer is most commonly associated with colon, lung and breast cancer.
Advances in Treatment
Traditional treatment for liver cancer typically involves surgery, chemotherapy and external beam radiation.
However, not all patients are candidates for surgery and some may not respond to traditional chemotherapy and radiation.
Today, there are several innovative approaches — such as radioembolization, chemoebolization and microwave ablation — that are making treatment more precise and more accessible to a broader number of patients.
With radioembolization, radiologists insert a catheter into the hepatic artery — the blood supply to the tumor — and insert tiny beads that lodge in the artery and give off small amounts of radiation, selectively targeting the tumor.
The procedure, which is performed through a small incision in the groin or the wrist and guided by X-ray images, kills the cancer cells and shrinks the tumor while sparing the surrounding healthy liver tissue.
Radioembolization is a generally a treatment option for cancer that is largely confined to the liver and for patients who meet certain baseline standards for liver function.
Similar to radioembolization, chemoembolization uses a catheter in the hepatic artery to delivery tiny beads of chemotherapy to the tumor. It is most beneficial in patients whose cancer is predominately limited to the liver.
Both radioembolization and chemoembolization block or reduce blood flow to the tumor, helping to kill off the cancer cells. Because the main blood supply to the liver is through the portal vein, healthy liver cells are relatively unharmed.
Another procedure, microwave ablation uses heat to destroy tumors. With microwave ablation, doctors — guided by an ultrasound or CT scan — insert a needle-like probe into the tumor. The probe emits heat from microwave energy that reaches temperatures greater than 100 degrees and kills the cancer cells.
Microwave ablation is typically used to treat smaller tumors, generally no more than 2 inches across.
All three procedures are generally well tolerated by patients. Side effects are typically mild and may include low-grade fever, abdominal pain and nausea. Usually, the procedures are performed on an outpatient basis.
In addition, because the procedures are precisely targeted there is normally little damage to healthy liver cells.
An Individualized Approach
As with most diseases, there is no single right approach for treating liver cancer. Each patient is different and requires a treatment plan that is specific and targeted to their unique condition.
Fortunately, innovations in cancer care are enabling doctors to manage complex cancer cases with more precise treatment, ultimately providing better outcomes for their patients.
If you have been diagnosed with liver cancer, talk with your doctor about your treatment options and the safest and most effective approach for your individual condition.
The Edward and Marie Mathews Cancer Center at UMCP is accredited with commendation from the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer and a recipient of the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer Outstanding Achievement Award. UMCP and the UMCP Breast Health Center earned accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, and the UMCP Breast Health Center is designated as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology.
This article was written by our own Samuel J. Greene, M.D. and originally published on CentralJersey.com.
