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.

CMS Chooses 32 Pioneer ACOs

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the selection of 32 leading health care organizations from across the country to participate in the new Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations initiative.

Health Panel to Revamp PR After Mammo Debate

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is said to be changing the way it handles public relations after the flap over mammogram screenings it caused two years ago.

The Radiologist As Ambassador: Integrating On-site and Off-site Reading at Lima Memorial

Radisphere

When Daniel Schultz, DO, accepted a position with Radisphere (Cleveland, Ohio, and Westport, Connecticut) five years ago, he was particularly excited about the prospect of a combined on-site and off-site radiology practice. “I saw it as a way to practice my specialty, but also to rely on my colleagues to cover their areas of expertise,” he says.

Computed Radiography in Haiti: Durability and Sustainability

iCRco

In the wake of the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, multiple aid groups rushed to the country to provide housing and medical care for the estimated 1.5 to 1.8 million residents displaced by the natural disaster. One such group was Health4Haiti, which had established a presence in the country several years before and had been building a clinic in

Open Season: Connecticut Hospital Expands Patient Base

Sponsored by Hitachi Healthcare Americas

When referring physicians in Southington, Connecticut, grew weary of sending patients out of town to the nearest open MRI unit, they asked the board of directors at the Bradley Memorial campus of the Hospital of Central Connecticut to recommend a new open MRI system for the hospital’s MRI center. As director of imaging services, Michael Perrone was

Radiology Braces for Bigger Patient Base

MMP

Many changes mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) are already underway, but health care still has time for a deep breath before the biggest change of all: In 2014, the insured-patient base is set to explode, driven by limits in payors’ ability to deny coverage, by expansion of Medicaid, by the launch of state health

Cultural Considerations Key to Combining Radiology Organizations

VMG

2011 proved to be another banner year for consolidation in the radiology industry, and with increasing downward pressure on reimbursement, the trend of groups joining together to provide more specialized care (while achieving economies of scale) can be expected to continue. While operational and financial assessments are premerger hallmarks,

Align or Recycle in Radiology’s New Model?

In its December 12 article¹ on the future of health care, the Wall Street Journal makes a compelling case that the current and future state of our health-care system will center on alignment of formerly conflicting interests. Giant integrated delivery systems will increasingly include physicians, health systems, and payors in some type of giant

Around the web

The patient, who was being cared for in the ICU, was not accompanied or monitored by nursing staff during his exam, despite being sedated.

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.