Experience Stories

Current Factors Influencing Outpatient Imaging Valuation

VMG

Evidence suggests that imaging utilization declined between 2009 and 2011, particularly for the high-tech modalities, including CT and MRI. Data1 from Regents Health Resources published in Radiology Business Journal indicate that growth in medical imaging slowed, relative to US population growth, in this time period, and that CT utilization

Strategies for Managing Payment From Self-after Patients

MMP

Thanks to the June 28 Supreme Court decision, one problem that radiology practices might not face for much longer is managing payment from uninsured patients—an issue that currently plagues hospital-based groups, in particular, according to Krista Pelensky, director of operations with Medical Management Professionals (MMP). “Many hospital-based

Investing in Radiology IT: The Practice Perspective

MMP

This article is the second in a four-part series. To read the first article, click here.

Smart Growth: Outpatient Imaging in the Age of Reform

VMG

According to a 2011 report¹ developed by Radiology Business Journal with data from SDI (formerly Verispan), while imaging-center chains in the United States experienced a slower rate of growth in 2011 than in previous years, the total number of imaging centers in the country increased by 72, for a total of 6,383. At a time when radiology-group

Launching the MSO: Inside the Genesis of Canopy Partners

Sponsored by Canopy Partners

In January 2011, Canopy Partners, a management-services organization (MSO), officially spun off from Greensboro Radiology in North Carolina. The large practice had been providing business, IT, and other nonclinical services to some of its partners and was working to diversify its offerings further. Worth Saunders, MHA, CEO of Canopy Partners, says,

Upgrading CT in the Emergency Department: Columbia Memorial Hospital Case Study

Sponsored by Hitachi Healthcare Americas

In August 2011, Columbia Memorial Hospital (Hudson, New York) began the process of selecting a new CT system to replace the four-slice system that the organization had been using in its emergency department. As Rhonda Makoske, director of medical imaging, explains, the 192-bed acute-care hospital is a local stroke center; two 64-slice CT systems

More Than Money Is on the Line As Meaningful Use Matures

RamSoft

In early May, the ACR® submitted comments to CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT on the proposed rules¹ for stage 2 of the meaningful-use incentive program. The proposal from the federal agencies, released March 7, is much more inclusive of radiology than the rules for stage 1 were, with new objectives that include

Enterprise Workflow: Imaging’s Next Frontier?

Carestream

Three hospitals using two separate PACS are a recipe for headaches, and Steven C. Horii, MD, is determined to find relief. As clinical director in the Medical Informatics Group at Philadelphia’s University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Horii wants his enterprise imaging platform to boost crucial connectivity, while maintaining most of the