Business Intelligence

Providers utilize business intelligence to monitor referral patterns and collaborate with clinicians who order their services. Such analytics tools have also been deployed in the specialty to improve productivity, track patient satisfaction and bolster quality.

2012 Health Care Merger and Acquisition Spending Down, Number of Deals Up

Overall spending for health care mergers and acquisitions fell by 38% in 2012, even as the total number of deals rose slightly, finds Irving Levin Associates report

Bill to Repeal IPAB Reintroduced in Congress

The bipartisan legislation to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) is greeted warmly by both the ACR and AMA

Imaging Center Mergers/ Acquisitions to Slow in 2013

Hospital acquisitions of imaging centers will slow down in 2013, after years of fast-paced merger/acquisition activiy say VMG Health valuation experts

RLI and Babson College Partner to Offer MBA to RLI Participants

Participants in the ACR’s Radiology Leadership Institute program may now earn credits toward an MBA from Babson’s Olin Graduate School of Business

Siemens Consultancy to Address Value-based Purchasing, HACs, Readmissions

Siemens Healthcare jumped into the health-care reform fray with three new consulting services intended to help customers identify systems and processes to improve quality

Time Running Out for Radiologists Without Meaningful Use Solution

Keith Dreyer, DO, PhD, vice chair of radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, stresses the importance of acting by October of this year in an ImagingBiz interview

Pueblo Radiology Partners with Santa Barbara Radiologist

Pueblo Radiology and Judy Dean, MD, have announced joint operation of Santa Barbara Women’s Imaging Center (SBWIC), formerly known as Judy Dean, MD.

ACR Monitoring Barium Shortage

The ACR is keeping a close eye on an ongoing shortage of barium products used for fluoroscopy, and warns that distribution may not normalize for a few more months

Around the web

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.

The all-in-one Omni Legend PET/CT scanner is now being manufactured in a new production facility in Waukesha, Wisconsin.