After reviewing a proposed arrangement pursuant to which a company would handle the processing and submission of insurance preauthorizations for various imaging services for the benefit of multiple imaging centers, the HHS OIG concluded that it would not penalize the arrangement, even though it did not qualify under any safe harbor of the federal

Asking customers what they need is one of the best ways of retaining their business, in the experience of Frank J. Lexa, MD, MBA. Lexa is clinical professor of radiology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia; professor and Asia regional manager of The Global Consulting Practicum and adjunct professor, department of marketing, The

The story of Summit Radiology is in some respects archetypal: the story of the modern radiology practice. Responding to changes in the health care regulatory and reimbursement environment in the late 1960s, staff radiologists at St Joseph and Lutheran Hospitals in Fort Wayne, Ind, formed Allen County Radiology Associates, Inc, and CFB Radiology,

The typical 10-physician practice will spend $285,240 to comply the new federal mandate to adopt the ICD-10 code set by 2011. The controversial proposal from HHS would significantly increase costs for physician practices and clinical laboratories, according to a new cost study initiated by a broad group of provider organizations and conducted by

On August 24, 2008, Good Samaritan Hospital, Vincennes, Ind, became the first site in the country to go live with integration between the Synapse PACS from FUJIFILM Medical Systems USA Inc, Stamford, Conn, and the cardiovascular image and information system (CVIIS) from FUJIFILM's subsidiary, ProSolv Cardiovascular, Indianapolis. FUJIFILM first

Negotiating higher reimbursement is nearly always possible, according to Penny Noyes, president and CEO, Health Business Navigators, Bowling Green, Ky. She presented Payor Contracts: Strategies to Analyze and Negotiate Improved Payor Reimbursement on October 21, 2008, in San Diego, at the annual conference of the Medical Group Management

Compression of images is not an alien concept in radiology. From radiography to CT, large image files transmitted between physicians’ offices or stored over the long term often undergo some kind of compression. Mammography—one of the last modalities to go digital—remains behind the curve, however. Can mammographic images be compressed while

The ACR is set to launch a new modular MRI accreditation program designed to meet the specific practice patterns of individual facilities. Sometime this month, the current general MRI accreditation program will transition to the new program—which includes brain, spine, musculoskeletal, body, MR angiography, and cardiac modules—opening the door to