MRI Machine Falls, Kills Worker

 

At the University of Utah Health, a contracted worker was moving an MRI when the machine fell and killed him. The accident occurred at a loading dock as the machine was being moved outside of the building from the fourth floor to the first floor.

The injured man was sent to the Emergency Department at the Salt Lake City hospital where he later died. A second worker who was also moving the machine suffered a minor injury.

Alison Flynn Gaffney, Executive Director of University Hospital service lines and system planning, said, “This was meant to be a milestone occasion for our team, and something that has been in the works for several years. We are incredibly saddened to learn that someone tragically died in this incident and our hearts go out to the family.”

Local authorities are working with hospital employees to determine the cause of the industrial accident. The Salt Lake City Fire Department hazmat crew were originally dispatched to the scene; occupational safety experts are investigating the incident.

Gaffney said there were multiple emergency and safety plans in place at the time. The machine weighs 20,000 pounds, so moving it is a challenge. Gaffney dubbed it an “outside event” with “infrastructure and scaffolding” along with “multiple safety components” involved. She said the hospital has moved machines like this “many, many times.”

 

Acceletronics is an industry leader in delivering the best equipment performance and service reliability from CT Scanners and Linear Accelerators across all major brands and models. Call 610-524-3300 or visit our website: https://www.acceletronics.com.

 

Written by the digital marketing staff at Creative Programs & Systems: www.cpsmi.com.

Study Finds Over 99% Of Knee X-Rays Following Replacement Surgery to Be Unnecessary

 According to a new analysis, the healthcare system is losing millions of dollars due to unnecessary x-rays following total knee replacement surgery.

Experts from The Knee wrote that performing radiographs after surgery is common; however, there is not a lot of data supporting their usefulness.

To better understand, Brigham and Women’s scientists examined specific data for two level one trauma centers. The results showed that nearly 100 percent of scans that took place after total knee arthroplasty had zero impact on medical intervention following the procedure.

Despite not having any effect on clinical management, these routine x-rays cost roughly $1 million and exposed patients to 22.92 mSV of radiation for apparently no reason.

Aseal Birir, an MD candidate at Harvard Medical School, one of the co-authors, wrote, “Since the majority of postoperative radiographs didn’t change clinical management and constituted a significant portion of follow-up care costs, methods to circumscribe unnecessary postoperative radiographs may be an effective cost-saving alternative, while simultaneously increasing the quality of TKA follow-up care by limiting radiographs to nonroutine follow-up visits.”

Adult patients who underwent knee replacement surgery within two different hospitals in 2014 were analyzed. With an average age of 72, a total of 1,258 patients met the study’s criteria. The cost of the average Medicare reimbursement averaged roughly $282 each.

The authors stated, “Further work developing evidence-based guidelines using nonroutine visits for determining the appropriateness of radiographs after primary TKA may be helpful to limit healthcare spending and support virtual postoperative visits after TKA.”

Acceletronics is an industry leader in delivering the best equipment performance and service reliability from CT Scanners and Linear Accelerators across all major brands and models. Call 610-524-3300 or visit our website: https://www.acceletronics.com.

 

Written by the digital marketing staff at Creative Programs & Systems: www.cpsmi.com.