Facility Management

Radiology's cardiac turf losses are legion: cardiac catheterization, cardiac angioplasty, echocardiography, and nuclear cardiology. Today, another turf battle is taking shape: control of cardiac CT and MR.

Medicare reimbursement for an FDG-PET scan could be reduced by nearly $500 if proposed changes to the hospital outpatient prospective payment system are enacted in 2005.

The government today announced its participation in one of the largest initiatives to date to determine effective neuroimaging techniques that will help chart brain changes associated with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. The announcement comes barely two weeks after Medicare agreed to reimburse for PET studies of suspected Alzheimer’s patients.

Cardiologists can make money owning CT scanners and performing coronary CT angiography, according to a presentation given at the North American Society for Cardiac Imaging meeting this week in Amelia Island, FL.

Busy schedules may prevent radiologists from taking full advantage of 3D imaging data, so the 3D Imaging Service and Radiology Computer Aided Diagnostics Laboratory at the Massachusetts General Hospital is stepping up to the postprocessing bat.

Busy schedules may prevent radiologists from taking full advantage of 3D imaging data, so the 3D Imaging Service and Radiology Computer Aided Diagnostics Laboratory at the Massachusetts General Hospital is stepping up to the postprocessing bat. The lab uses a full-time staff to provide support to radiology departments and the rest of the hospital.

Philips Medical Systems has developed a 16-slice CT scanner designed specifically for private practice cardiologists. The new system, which will be unveiled this week at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference in Washington, DC, is restricted to the analysis of cardiac and peripheral vasculature and cannot be used to perform radiologic exams.

Teleradiology has allowed an Oklahoma radiologist to build a solo practice from home. Dr. Byron Marr explains how he works and why he has chosen this approach.

I have been approached by a friend to join him in starting a new outpatient imaging center. I just made partner in my current hospital-based group and this would unfortunately necessitate my leaving to do this, but I think a lot of the local docs would send cases to me. I have been thinking about this opportunity a lot lately because it sounds very attractive, but I just don't know what to do. What do you think?

People and machines are vessels for different species of intelligence. Comparing them invites disparaging labels: natural versus unnatural, real versus artificial.But in reality, machine is whatever people make of it. It is not truly intelligent

Imaging services provider Medical Resources has selected Dynamic Imaging as the PACS provider for centers in its Florida region. The company's Web-driven IntegradWeb PACS will be installed at seven sites throughout the state. The primary reading location

People and machines are vessels for different species of intelligence. Comparing them invites disparaging labels: natural versus unnatural, real versus artificial.

Another vendor is ready to enter the market for digital mammography. Siemens Medical Solutions obtained FDA approval Aug. 20 for its Mammomat Novation DR full-field digital mammography system.Siemens is the fourth vendor to offer such a product in the

A consortium of trade organizations has launched an initiative it hopes will establish a certification process for electronic health record (EHR) products. Such a process could go into effect next year.Following an initial meeting July 13, the trade

R2 Technology, a perennial leader in the development of computer-aided detection technology, has received premarket approval from the FDA to sell its ImageChecker CT CAD software in the U.S. An executive for the Sunnyvale, CA, company said marketing

In our last article, "Grid computing makes most of finite resources" (April, page 21), we discussed the technical aspects of grid computing and how it might be used to provide diagnostic radiology services. While we certainly don't possess a crystal

In a $10.5 million cash deal, national provider of diagnostic imaging services Radiologix has sold one wholly owned diagnostic imaging center and five joint venture imaging centers to Baptist Health System of San Antonio. The company has also retained

One-time maverick ultrasound manufacturer SonoSite continued its relocation into the clinical mainstream this month with the expansion of ob/gyn capabilities for its Titan ultrasound scanner.New ob/gyn calculations and measurement capabilities were

Demand for angiography is booming in the U.S., according to Epix Medical. The Cambridge, MA, developer of an MR angiography agent now in review at the FDA is banking on it staying that way.In a teleconference April 29, the company's chief executive

An increasing number of insurance carriers are providing reimbursement for radio-frequency ablation of unresectable liver lesions. The move may spark an explosion in RFA-related procedures.

Manufacturers of bone density machines are enjoying steady and healthy business from hospitals, according to industry sources. Radiology departments and women's imaging centers are adding second and even third central dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA)

Return of growth depends on megaslice productsThe arrival of the next generation of CT scanners--32-, 40-, and 64-slice products--promises to reinvigorate a market that stumbled last year and showed continued weakness in the first