Facility Management

Multislice CT continues to spawn new applications in lung imaging, such as software techniques that allow depiction of airway morphology abnormalities in the prevalent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. But radiologists are still not doing enough to cut the radiation dose while using the latest imaging tools, resulting in unnecessary and potentially hazardous excess exposure, according to some experts.

A new formula proposed by the influential Medicare Payment Advisory Commission for calculating practice expense relative value units could cut technical payments for MRI, CT, and PET from the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule by as much as 44%.

NYT reports good, bad, uglyHansen buys stake in cardiac therapy firm

It's rare for us to focus closely on medicaltrends in a particular state. We made anexception with this edition's look atPennsylvania, in part because it's an interestingstory, but also because it representsa cautionary tale for all of radiology.

The $1.1 billion in the economic stimulus plan committed to comparative effectiveness research may be good for weighing the relative merits of medical technologies, but it could slow their adoption and lead to European-style rationing, according to Obama administration critics.

Economic issues stretching well beyond the imaging community are affecting sales of imaging equipment. Vendors are responding by lowering prices and designing new, lower cost products. Siemens began the trend with its 1.5T Essenza, priced below $1 million, more than a year ago and followed up last week with the release of an entry-level and upgradable gamma camera, its Symbia E. Earlier this year, Toshiba gave its Aquilion Premium, a 160-channel CT scanner that can be upgraded in the field to the company’s 320-channel Aquilion One, a soft launch. The company decided to forgo the usual attempts to generate publicity and prime the market in order to get the product in front of customers as soon as possible. Philips and GE have each introduced similarly low-cost, high-performance units designed for budget-strapped facilities.

A decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to deny reimbursement for CT colonography screening has shocked radiologists. News that CMS had deemed evidence inadequate to grant coverage left imagers not only dismayed but in disbelief.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has proposed that payment for CT colonography be declined, saying there is not enough evidence to support it as a colorectal cancer screening tool.

At a Senate Finance Committee hearing Tuesday, Republican senators questioned whether hefty expenditures for healthcare informatics in the Obama administration’s $825 billion stimulus package will actually help jumpstart the economy.

The American College of Radiology plans to fight proposals in the Congressional Budget Office’s latest report on possible cost-cutting policies affecting medical imaging. College policy experts fear the report may represent the starting point for future payment cuts.

Researchers at a private diagnostic imaging center in central Florida have shown 3T MRI of the wrist is nearly as sensitive and specific as arthroscopy for detection of wrist ligament tears. MR could spot abnormalities missed by standard imaging tests and avoid needless surgeries, according to the investigators.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed Tuesday to grant routine Medicare payment for numerous cancer-related FDG-PET applications evaluated by the National Oncology PET Registry, a program managed by the American College of Radiology Imaging Network.

The creators of CT screening colonographyhave not waited for the medicalestablishment and insurers to accept itas an alternative to optical colonoscopy.

Radiation dose reduction was a dominanttheme at the 2008 RSNA scientificassembly.

During 18 years as a radiologic technologist, JeffCrowley acknowledged he sometimes thought,"Oh, I can do that," while assisting withprocedures.

Not long ago, our approach to treating difficultmetastatic tumors was to "spray and pray." Weknew that chemotherapy and other traditionaltreatment approaches could cause great damageand had a limited chance of successfully destroyingthe entire tumor.

Medicare’s outpatient imaging program has issued a New Year’s greeting in the form of rules in the 2009 Physician Fee Schedule that raise professional reimbursement rates, expand the discount for contiguous body part imaging to more applications, and introduce anti-markup rules that are far less harsh than those originally proposed.

Recommendations from an Oregon Health and Science Center study have clashed with the findings from a University of Wisconsin trial on the value of polypectomy for small polyps identified during CT colonography. The Oregon study calls for immediate resection while the Wisconsin trial concludes that removal would be costly, risky, and, by definition, unnecessary.

Low-dose PET/CT demonstrates the best sensitivity and specificity for initial staging of lymphoma, according to a study presented on Thursday at the RSNA meeting.

Stressed out at the workstation? You’re not alone. A survey presented at a scientific session Wednesday found relatively high levels of stress across a broad spectrum of radiologists.

A neuroradiologist, a neurosurgeon, and a radiological technologist explained to an RSNA audience how working together to analyze fMR scans has significantly helped them pinpoint hard-to-reach brain tumors and plan delicate surgery, resulting in improved surgical outcomes.

A new configuration of GE Healthcare’s LightSpeed VCT cuts dose by up to 40% during routine imaging, according to the company.

Results from papers released Sunday at the 2008 RSNA suggest that a less rigid approach to treatment, coupled with knowledgeable practitioners and judicious patient selection can improve the commercial prospects of outpatient MRI-guided focused ultrasound ablation of uterine fibroids. There are caveats, though.

As 2008 drew to a close, so did demandin the U.S. for imaging equipment.The timing couldn't be worse.The crisis in the U.S. credit marketsfelled an already stumbling market forcapital equipment such as MR andCT. Vendors began feeling the pinchin the first half of the year, reflecting adownturn that began last year.

Change may be the byword for the historic election of Sen. Barack Obama as president, but the type of change Obama may bring to the White House won't necessarily be accompanied by the uncertainties and anxieties that come with a sharp departure from the past.

A new CT scanner built on Siemens’ unique dual-source x-ray technology promises to dramatically reduce dose and eliminate motion artifact in the chest. Using two x-ray tubes and matching detectors, the Somatom Definition Flash, debuted at RSNA 2008, opens the door to routine scanning of the coronaries, according to the company.

Legal and regulatory issues have a growing impact on how radiologists perform procedures and studies, report results, and structure their practices. Implementing a simple checklist may help to reduce the prospect of being sued for malpractice.

NightHawk switches CEOsSectra and Synthetic MR extend alliance Riverain launches chest software

President-elect Barack Obama’s appointment of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to head the Department of Health and Human Services, combined with a commitment from insurers and a detailed plan from the chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, suggests strongly that healthcare reform will be a top priority for the new administration and the 111th Congress.

A decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services not to expand coverage for carotid artery stenting has stirred mixed responses among physicians who are either outraged with the denial or satisfied that the decision was scientifically sound.