Facility Management

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

The 2009 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule reflects the recent tendency of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to propose stringent reforms for in-office imaging and independent diagnostic imaging facilities in the summer and decide against their implementation when the final MPFS rules are published in the fall.The 2009 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule reflects the recent tendency of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to propose stringent reforms for in-office imaging and independent diagnostic imaging facilities in the summer and decide against their implementation when the final MPFS rules are published in the fall.

I have always loved allegory. Asan art form, it can cause us toexamine our beliefs, to reflect onthe influences that govern ourlives.

Advanced imaging procedures covered by Medicare took a beating in 2007 under a congressionally mandated deficit reduction law, falling $1.7 billion, a drop of 12.7%, to $12.1 billion, according to a report from the federal General Accountability Office.

MR vendors have been chipping away at new clinical applications for years. They have pointed to 3T as the means to expand routine practice in ways that are not routine, adding computing engines to handle the massive volumes of data that would gush forth, expanding data pipelines, building out coils with extended channels-in short, creating the infrastructure to support a new diagnostic order. This year, they mean business.

Whether we would like to admit it or not, medical imaging is slowly on its way to becoming a commodity, which has been defined by Wikipedia as "anything for which there is a demand, but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a given market."

During tens of thousands of patient consultations every day, physicians make bad decisions about ordering diagnostic imaging. They may prescribe brain MRI because it is faster to write an order than to conduct a routine neurological exam. They may call for an abdominal CT without realizing that diagnostic ultrasound is cheaper and equally effective.

Radiology is capital-hungry and labor-intensive. In this era of healthcare reforms and budget restrictions, long-term planning is required to manage it

An Italian investigation suggests virtual colonography is a better follow-up test for failed colonoscopy than a double-contrast barium enema.

Ultrasound will step into thepolitically charged environs ofwomen's health and address thevagaries of today's financial challengesat this year's RSNA meeting.

CMS considers expanding PET coverageAvreo snaps up multisite contract

Teleradiology's relatively smooth sail into the waters of commercial success may be in for some turbulence as prices per read drop like a barometer in a hurricane. Most of the pressure forcing rates downward comes from the perfect storm of increased competition, reduced reimbursements, commoditization of preliminary read service, and continuing effects of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005

A unique touchscreen iPhone-teleradiology application that allows physicians to navigate through diagnostic images from home, train, or golf cart was announced in June at the Apple user's meeting by an Ohio biomedical company.

An advisory legal opinion from the Department of Health and Human Services in favor of a specialized service to handle the processing of high-tech preauthorization requests for referring physicians has drawn a mixed response among legal and industry authorities.

Radiologists worry about surprise rate cuts and tighter tech regulation but still wield influence over IT and healthcare quality initiatives

Donated Siemens MR begins operatingSiemens suggests PET swap for bone scansSNM highlights molecular imaging advancesSymposium focuses on ultrasound surgery

In what is likely to be a precursor to uniform standards for clinical tele-radiology, an international network of radiology organizations has drafted guidelines for the burgeoning teleradiology industry.

What radiologists gleefully celebrated almost a year ago has been officially validated for the entire medical community by The New England Journal of Medicine: CT colonography is an accurate alternative to colonoscopy to detect suspicious polyps and is primed for colorectal cancer screening. Virtual colonoscopy proponents say CTC is also ready for reimbursement.

A survey of academic radiologists’ clinical productivity shows that workload continues to increase, in both exam volume and complexity. Academic department heads could use the survey data to help set staffing levels and evaluate the performance of individual radiologists.

Cerebral blood flow imaging may eventually help identify young people who need preventive therapy Adolescents at relatively high risk for depression and alcohol abuse demonstrate distinct patterns of resting cerebral blood flow in areas of the brain associated with emotional behavior and decision making, according to preliminary results from the Research Imaging Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

Long waits, unfriendly staff, and big copays could rival cold entrees in healthcare reviews posted on Internet Diners have long relied on Zagat Survey for guidance when choosing a restaurant. Now, patients in several large U.S. cities will have a chance to use the same consumer-based rating service to choose a physician.

It's been a year since practice manager Lorna Vaughan took out an ad seeking a breast imager to work on the Jersey Shore. To her surprise, a "dream-come-true, fee-for-service, patient- focused, personal and compassionate practice with partnership and ownership opportunity" has been a hard sell.

Radiology PACS and cardiology PACS have more in common than the same last name. Similarities include diagnostic workstations, archive infrastructure, DICOM modality work list functionality, web-based distribution, and interfaces to hospital information systems and electronic medical records.

The largest multi-institutional study to date examining the effect of PET on the management of recurrent colorectal cancer has found that its finding led to change in the treatment plans for more than half of patients.

An unscheduled shutdown of the High Flux Reactor at Petten in the Netherlands has raised concern about a possible interruption of molybdenum-99 supplies for nuclear medicine procedures in Europe and North America.

Draft of global standards covers image quality, security, and controversial issues such as liability In what is likely a precursor to uniform standards for clinical teleradiology, an international network of radiology organizations has drafted guidelines for the burgeoning teleradiology industry.

A Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services advisory panel has found that most available clinical data for nine conditionally approved cancer indications of FDG-PET, evaluated by the National Oncologic PET Registry and a separate Canadian study, are too ambivalent to support Medicare coverage.