Lexington Diagnostic Center provides trained Spanish medical interpretation services.

Deborah Winslow, the Administrator of Lexington Diagnostic Center said, ?There is great need for this type of service in the Bluegrass. It is essential for all patients to be able to communicate effectively with medical staff.? The more understanding there is between patients and medical staff, the more accurate the diagnosis.”

We find that using children or friends of patients to interpret is not as effective and can leave gaps in understanding. ?We utilize telephone interpreting when a patient speaks a language other than Spanish.? ?Bridging the Gap” is a course provided by The Cross Cultural Health Care group. ?To find out more about this group, go to this link:?http://www.xculture.org/BTGwelcome.php

Study Shows that CT Scan Screening for Lung Cancer is Better than Chest X-ray.

A huge National Cancer Institute study was in process to settle the long debate about screening for lung cancer with low dose spiral CT as opposed to Chest X-Ray. This study was terminated early because of significant findings that favored the use of CT.? ??

According to NPR News, the ?The massive National Lung Screening Trial enrolled 53,000 current or former smokers to try to settle the debate. It found 20 percent fewer deaths from lung cancer among those screened with spiral CTs than among those given chest X-rays, the NCI said Thursday, a difference significant enough that it ended the study early.?
Click here: Study: CT Scans Modestly Cut Lung Cancer Deaths : NPR?

Lexington Diagnostic Center & OPEN MRI has been providing spiral low-dose CT Lung Cancer Screening for several years and continues to be a leader in Screening Imaging Technology services. LDC has long provided Cardiac Calcium Score, Virtual Colonoscopy, Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Ultrasound Screening and DEXA for Osteoporosis Screening.

Save big on Health-care costs. Use an independent outpatient diagnostic center.

You can save lots of money by having your medical imaging performed at a licensed, accredited independent outpatient imaging center such as Lexington Diagnostic Center & Open MRI (LDC). You may not be aware of the crazy practice in which insurance companies pay hospital-based imaging centers much more for studies than they pay for the same studies at Lexington Diagnostic Center. Often times the insurance payment or allowable is 2, 3 or even 5 times higher for the hospital-based imaging centers! In this day and age of high deductibles and high co-pays these savings can make a huge difference to your pocketbook and can help keep down the cost of medical care and insurance premiums.

We have discovered two actual, recent examples of this situation in relation to Central Baptist Hospital outpatient centers. In one case a CT sinus exam had a Humana insurance allowable which was $300 more at CB’s Southland Drive location than LDC’s allowable would have been. In another situation a 2 view x-ray of the foot had an Anthem insurance allowable of $160 more at CB’s Hamburg location than it would have been at LDC (and at both hospital outpatient locations radiologist?s fees were not included).

On these insurance company websites, comparisons for fees allowed are published for various local facilities which show the same patterns. For example, an MRI of the lumbar spine is reimbursed $393 (which includes the radiologist fee) at Lexington Diagnostic Center, while the price is $707 + radiologist fee at several Lexington hospital outpatient centers and the price is $1,021 + radiologist fee for these procedures at hospitals in Georgetown, Versailles, Paris and Richmond. The differences are even more marked at hospitals in Eastern Kentucky.

These are unfair business practices and makes for an unequal playing field and we are trying to remedy this practice. However, until it changes this is an opportunity for you to demand that your doctor send you to LDC for High Field MRI, Open MRI, CT, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, DEXA, arthrograms, epidural and facet joint injections, and x-rays. Your friends, family and pocketbook will love you for this tip, as well as for recommending them to a facility that provides excellent services and treats all patients royally.

Our billing department is available to quote estimated benefits so you can make a cost comparison for any procedure. Please feel free to call us at 859-278-6724 or toll-free at 800-600-2797.

LDC Acquires New MRI Prostate Imaging Scan September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

Lexington Diagnostic Center & OPEN MRI has acquired the capability of providing MRI of the prostate to demonstrate the presence and localization or the absence of cancer. This test utilizes an MRI of the pelvis area with and without contrast enhancement using a surface coil.

Special MRI protocols and software (VividLook? by iCAD?) provides dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE-MRI) images that measure abnormal blood flow through leaky blood vessels that are present in cancer. Colorized maps indicate areas in the prostate that are suspicious or abnormal. The test takes about 40 minutes and does not require a rectal probe or difficult bowel preparations.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men after skin cancer. There is a one in two chance that a man will develop prostate cancer. Most cases of prostate cancer are detected by elevation of a blood test, Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) and/or Digital Rectal Exam (DRE).

Statistics show that when the PSA is abnormal, only 12 to 20% of men will have a biopsy positive for cancer. When the PSA is normal, 15% of men will still have cancer. At least 20% of cancers are missed when 10 to 30 random (blind) biopsies of the prostate are taken.

Visualizing cancer within the prostate has been difficult because the prostate is small and deep in the body. Power Doppler Ultrasound using a rectal probe may be useful but random biopsies have been the main diagnostic tool.

Dynamic Contrast Enhanced (DCE-MRI) images have for the first time provided the ability to highlight and localize prostate cancer. This allows urologists to target specific areas of the prostate for biopsy and increase the chances for finding cancer if is there. In addition DCE-MRI can help in pre-treatment planning and in post-treatment follow up. DCE-MRI will also be useful in patients who are on blood thinners and who cannot have a biopsy.

Red Crescent Shaped Area DCE-MRI on the Left Image Indicates Prostate Cancer.

Other diagnostic imaging tests used to evaluate prostate cancer at Lexington Diagnostic Center are Prostacint? nuclear scans, nuclear bone scans, PET scans, CT scans and chest x-rays. Lexington Diagnostic Center and OPEN MRI is the exclusive provider in the Bluegrass of VividLook? DCE-MRI and Prostacint? nuclear medicine scans.

For more information contact Dr. George Privett by e-mail at:?gwprivett@aol.com?or by phone at 859-278-7226.

FDA Releases Silicone Breast Implants for Use.

Recommends Breast MRI to detect ruptures.

Silicone breast implants were removed from the market for several years due to concerns about the health implication of rupture. After much research, the suspected side effects of rupture were found to be very low and silicone implants have again been released for use. However, because of concerns about local reactions or migration of the silicone from the chest wall to other organs, MRI has been recommended every 3 years to detect silent rupture.

Lexington Diagnostic Center has been on the forefront of providing Breast MRI for implant rupture determination as well as for Cancer detection in women with high risk for breast cancer, or who have very dense breasts or implants. (See press release below)

Click here for the Breast MRI press release