In July 2008, Congress passed the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA), which, among other provisions, mandated that all outpatient providers of advanced diagnostic imaging services be accredited by a CMS-designated body by January 1, 2012, in order to receive Medicare reimbursement for the technical component of an exam.

Friendly competition has developed among the five radiologists of Capital Imaging Associates, Albany, New York, to the benefit of referrers (and, potentially, to patient care). Six months ago, the group implemented an RVU-based system for productivity tracking, which has allowed the physicians to gain awareness of their individual caseloads and how

I just finished reading the new book about last year’s financial near meltdown, Too Big to Fail (Viking, 2009), by Andrew Ross Sorkin. The book’s several hundred pages of behind-the-scenes narrative leading up to and immediately following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 were instructive on several levels for those of us trying to

Since the dawn of the DRA at the close of 2005, health care observers have predicted a follow-on DRA II. It appears that this prediction will come to pass shortly after the clock strikes midnight on December 31.

This year’s meeting of the RSNA in Chicago, Illinois, to be held November 29 through December 4, will feature approximately 4,000 scientific papers, posters, and educational exhibits, and despite the recession, the society expects to welcome nearly 60,000 attendees from around the globe. The meeting will include perennial favorites like the mock

As I sit here trying to think of a way to wrap up a year of tremendous change in radiology, health care, and the economy at large, I understand that there is no way to turn 2009 into a neat package. Nevertheless, sifting through a year’s worth of content developed for Radiology Business Journal—and our electronic journals, ImagingBiz.com,

Viewing revenue-cycle management as a function limited only to billing is shortsighted at best, and is more likely to be a mistake. Revenue-cycle management affects the entire practice, imaging center, and hospital radiology department, from a new patient’s first inquiry (whether made by telephone, through an online portal, or in person) to the

In recent years, the diagnostic imaging industry has served as a microcosm, of sorts, for the larger health care industry. Diagnostic imaging has seen rapid technological advances that have dramatically increased diagnostic capabilities and increased demand for services, as well as increases in both the number and types of providers offering