Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) President Brian Ghoshhajra MD, division chief, cardiovascular imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor of radiology, Harvard, explains three challenges he is making to SCCT members in the coming year. These include:
1. Expand cardiac CT beyond large urban medical centers into community hospitals and into communities that can benefit from coronary CT angiography, but do not currently have programs.
2. Extent the "long tail" of the annual SCCT meeting by being active on the new collaboration portal SCCT Connect. He said this can help expand networking and learning on a peer-to-peer level. This includes asking questions and getting feed back from those in the field. Ghoshhajra said it was clear during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the 2020 and 2021 SCCT meetings to be virtual, that networking and contact with peers was important and a missing feature for two years. The society invested in the SCCT Connect platform to facilitate extending the conversations from the annual meeting.
3. Bring a friend to the 2023 SCCT meeting. SCCT had its largest meeting in 2022, and cardiac CT usage continues to expand. Ghoshhajra said there is a need for additional training has centers expand their CTA programs or create new ones. Attending the annual meeting with new staff or administrators helps in their education and understanding of the space and the technology.
Related Cardiac CT and SCCT Content:
VIDEO: The new role of cardiac CT in chest pain evaluation — Interview with Brian Ghoshhajra MD
VIDEO: Cardiac CT training requirements for radiologists and technologists — Interview with Brian Ghoshhajra MD
VIDEO: Mitigating the contrast media shortage impact on CT imaging — Interview with Brian Ghoshhajra, MD
Non-hospital-based facilities offering cardiac imaging services a rarity in Massachusetts
Dave Fornell has covered healthcare for more than 17 years, with a focus in cardiology and radiology. Fornell is a 5-time winner of a Jesse H. Neal Award, the most prestigious editorial honors in the field of specialized journalism. The wins included best technical content, best use of social media and best COVID-19 coverage. Fornell was also a three-time Neal finalist for best range of work by a single author. He produces more than 100 editorial videos each year, most of them interviews with key opinion leaders in medicine. He also writes technical articles, covers key trends, conducts video hospital site visits, and is very involved with social media. E-mail: dfornell@innovatehealthcare.com