While hospitals have always been significant players in the market for freestanding imaging centers, volume for hospitals purchasing all or part of the ownership interest in freestanding imaging centers has increased dramatically over the past few years. For hospitals already involved in joint ventures with physicians or entrepreneurial companies,

For nearly a year and a half following the passage of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, the medical community had one question on its mind: What constitutes meaningful use? The HITECH legislation stresses that in order to receive stimulus funding for health IT, providers must prove meaningful use of

The following is not a trick question: What does the US Army’s legendary 82nd Airborne Division have in common with today’s medical-imaging profession? On the surface, probably not a lot; beneath the surface, however, I’ve seen quite a bit that our profession can learn from the focus, precision, and ethos of one of the finest US organizations. This

In early July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded the Hospital Compare website to include new measures related to outpatient care—including four measures related to the use or overuse of imaging services. These measures include "outpatients with low back pain who had an MRI without trying recommended treatments first,

Mega-group Strategic Radiology has hired Mark J. Kleinschmidt as CEO of the consortium of 15 practices representing more than 890 radiologists. Kleinschmidt most recently served as CEO of St Paul Radiology, Minneapolis, and senior VP of business services at NightHawk Radiology.

The road to PACS perfection is paved with distractions and pitfalls, Paul Chang, MD, FSIIM, says. Chang is professor of radiology, vice chair of radiology informatics, and medical director of enterprise imaging at University of Chicago Medical Center in Illinois. During the 2010 Dwyer Lecture, “The Role of Imaging Informatics in the Next Generation

CMS is seeking participants for a just-announced $10 million demonstration pilot that will test the effectiveness of decision-support systems (DSSs) in curbing the utilization of 11 CT, MRI, and nuclear medicine imaging studies associated with 32 different CPT codes (Exhibit 1).

CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator scaled back their requirements for demonstrating meaningful use of information technology in an 864-page final rule released yesterday, trimming by 20% the criteria physicians and hospitals are required to meet in order to receive HITECH funds for electronic health record system purchases.