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.

Nuance Communications Acquires Webmedx

Nuance Communications Inc., a Burlington, Mass.-based provider of transcription services, has acquired Webmedx Inc., of Atlanta, Ga., for an undisclosed amount. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Webmedx offers transcription and editing services and clinical documentation technology for hospitals and clinics.

PACS Integration Fosters Use of Decision Support Tools

The ability to access online decision support solutions from within a PACS environment increases radiologists’ use of these tools, reveals a study in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology. However, integrated access must be provided upon system deployment rather than down the road.

Specialists Will Benefit From State Health Insurance Exchanges, Study Says

The creation of state health insurance exchanges under new rules released this week by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will likely prove a boon to radiologists.

Agreement Integrates CAD, Functional Analytics

Medicsight PLC, a provider of computer-aided detection (CAD) and medical image analysis software headquartered in London, England, has entered into a technology integration agreement with Ziosoft, Inc., a Redwood City, Calif.-based vendor of functional imaging visualization software. The combination of the companies’ two solutions will enable

HHS, States Move to Establish Affordable Insurance Exchanges

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) yesterday proposed a framework to assist states in building Affordable Insurance Exchanges, state-based competitive marketplaces where individuals and small businesses will be able to purchase affordable private health insurance and have the same insurance choices as members of Congress.

ACR Voices Objections to Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines

Following breast cancer screening guidelines suggested in a study published in the July 5, 2011 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine may negate “the significant, and proven life-saving benefit of mammography in women ages 40 and over and result in thousands of unnecessary breast cancer deaths each year”, according to the American College of

Agency To Scrutinize Health Insurance Rate Increases

Insurance rate increases are under the microscope, with change possibly afoot. The Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will begin in September to review health insurance rate increases higher than 10% in an evaluation required under the Affordable Care Act. The agency says it will examine rate increases in seven states that lack the

Teleradiology Provider Convicted of Fraud

The founder of a teleradiology services provider has been convicted of 30 counts of fraud for allowing radiology reports from his company to be approved without prior review.

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.