Facility Management

There seems no end to the bashing. But from radiology’s perspective, Apple’s soon-to-be-released iPad could be huge, potentially serving as the first truly mobile device to support medical visualization.

Two radiology groups in Illinois have merged, making them the largest private practice radiology group in the state. Effective Feb. 1, Central Illinois Radiological Associates and Springfield Radiology Associates have joined forces to employ 70 radiologists.

There’s a bit of a shuffle taking place in San Antonio in the world of radiology. Two major radiology companies are undergoing a merger and acquisition.

This week CMS published a Federal Register notice announcing its approval of the following national accreditation organizations to accredit suppliers seeking to furnish the technical component of advanced diagnostic imaging services under the Medicare program: the American College of Radiology, the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission, and the Joint Commission. The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) requires all nonhospital suppliers of advanced imaging services be accredited by organizations designated by the secretary of HHS by Jan. 1, 2012, to qualify to provide services to Medicare beneficiaries.

Most of the talk about changes in healthcare as it relates to radiology center on Medicare reimbursement levels. However, one piece that is yet to be discussed extensively but that has huge implications for radiology is clinical decision support.

A Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposal meant to streamline billing and other imaging management duties could actually backfire and create administrative havoc, according to radiology administrators.

This is a men's imaging center and the décor is man cave. We bought most of the furniture at garage sales and have no debt to service.

CMS’s recently proposed regulations on “meaningful use” and electronic health record certification present both opportunities and challenges for the radiology market.

Electrocardiogram-gated tube modulation is essential to lower radiation dose in fusion imaging.

Since the attempted explosion of an airliner as it was landing in Detroit on Christmas Day by an alleged terrorist from Nigeria, global air safety experts have been scrambling to enact new safety measures. A quick answer has come in the form of whole-body scanners that use low-level radiation to allow screeners to see through clothing to identify hidden weapons or explosives.

The final 2010 Medicare fee schedule projects an 11% drop in reimbursement to radiologists. The House has voted to delay implementation of the changes until March 2010. The Senate is expected to vote before the end of the year.

According to an article in the January 2010 issue of Radiology women with elevated risk of breast cancer are likely to refuse an MRI -- even when it won't cost them anything.

Teleradiology is evolving at different ratesacross Europe.

The ability to self-refer may explain why cardiologists were better able than radiologists to adjust to Medicare rate cuts after the implementation of reimbursement reforms from the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

Launched in 2008, the imaging center at the Glastonbury outdoor rock event in the U.K. is on the verge of becoming an institution. The center was reopened at the 2009 festival, this time with a portable digital radiography machine. A poster at the RSNA meeting reported good results, along with plans to expand in 2010.

GE Healthcare announced at RSNA 2009 an effort to develop the next generation of software designed to cut patient x-ray dose from CT.

Over the last several months, Philips has been dropping hints that the company would unveil at RSNA 2009 a high-powered technique for cutting CT dose. The company did not disappoint.

There's an alternative to radiology benefit managers that can cut down on labor hours, save money, and ensure patients receive the right imaging test the first time

Experts continue to lambast recent recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to cut breast cancer screening from annual to biennial exams and to limit the test to women ages 50 to 74. The experts are primarily concerned with the task force’s ability to influence policy, and thus they continue to assert there are no data to support the recommendations.

Some have blamed in-office self-referral for imaging’s fall from grace, alleging that overprescription of imaging exams for personal gain and the low-quality images that often result have tarnished the specialty’s reputation. Now relief may come from an unlikely quarter: healthcare reform.

Bracco Diagnostics sees opportunity in the latest decision by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services to reimburse more for PET procedures in 2010.

Rather than retreating after the hard blow handed them by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which refused to grant reimbursement for the application in May, CT colonography researchers will arrive at the 2009 RSNA meeting with more of what CMS wants: hard data.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has issued a recommendation against routine breast cancer screening for women ages 40 to 49 and suggests the screening interval should be changed from every year to every two years beginning at age 50. The new recommendations will result in “many needless deaths,” said a joint statement from the American College of Radiology and the Society of Breast Imaging

Medical imagers can now expect Medicare to routinely cover FDG-PET for initial staging of cervical cancer, thanks to a national coverage ruling announced Nov. 10.

In 1999, when the National Academy of Engineering asked professional engineering societies to rank the top achievements of the 20th century, they ranked medical imaging techniques at number 14, one rung below the Internet and one above household appliances. A decade later the providers of imaging services and the companies that sell this equipment are scapegoats targeted for rate cutting and taxation. What happened?

A radiologist, well known for research on diagnostic imaging utilization trends, has pointed to the growing prominence of radiology benefit management companies for slamming the brakes on rapidly growing high-tech imaging utilization.

With years of slice wars behind them, vendors will argue that image quality and dose reduction are this year’s dominant issues in CT. Most of their arguments will be rooted in past developments.

Passing of the Affordable Health Care for America Act in the House of Representatives confirmed imaging proponents’ fears that the bill would impose steep cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates and new sale taxes on imaging equipment. But they were pleased to discover that, for the first time, the House has turned its gaze on physician self-referral.

Electrocardiogram-gated tube modulation is essential to lower radiation dose in fusion imaging.

The American College of Radiology is predicting that imaging access will plunge and patient waiting times will soar from new Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rules that will cut Medicare payments for outpatient imaging by an estimated 16% next year.