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.

ARRT Names Two New Board Trustees

The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) has appointed Lisa Bartenhagen, M.S., R.T., and Barbara J. Smith, M.S., R.T., FASRT, FAEIRS, to four-year terms on its Board of Trustees, beginning August 1, 2013

KLAS Reports Look at Supporting Tests for Mammography

With growing patient and referral source interest in breast cancer screening options beyond traditional mammography, the women’s imaging field is heating up says research firm KLAS.

Maryland Becomes 7th State With a Breast Density Notification Law

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has signed SB 334, the “Mammograms – Dense Breast Tissue – Notification” into law making his state the seventh state requiring mammography providers to give patients information about breast density

Two Studies Find Cause for Optimism in Health Care Cost Growth

Whether the slowdown in health care spending is just a silver lining to the overall slowdown in the economy or if it is due to structural changes in how health care is delivered is no small matter

ACR Honors Senator Vitter for Support of Radiology

Senator David Vitter (R-La.) received the American College of Radiology's Congressional Award for Radiological Excellence (CARE Award) for his championship of radiology issues in the Senate

Bills to Repeal MPPR Pick Up 15 New Sponsors

Twelve Representatives and three Senators added their names to legislation to remove the multiple procedure payment reduction (MPPR) on the professional component of imaging

Looking Forward and Looking Back: On 20 Years in Imaging

MMP

The radiology industry has seen its shares of ups and downs during the past two decades. “In 1993, health care was in a period of chaos much like the one we are experiencing right now,” Mark Talley, COO of Medical Management Professionals (MMP), says. “The biggest fear was that everything would move to capitation. As time went by and things settled down, there was a period of rapid growth in radiology, primarily driven by advances in imaging technology.” G. Darrell Hulsey, president and CEO of MMP, concurs. He says, “Clinically, radiology has made significant advances in the past two decades, all contributing to better and more streamlined care.”

Inside the Hospital–Radiology Contract of the Future

Optimal

Contracts between hospitals and radiology groups are evolving to reflect the shifting requirements of health care—and both parties can expect to continue to see changes, according to Stephanie Krent, an analyst with The Advisory Board. “What we have learned, from speaking with many hospitals and radiology groups, is that contracts need to be individualized to fit the relationship and to reflect current priorities,” Krent says. “It has to be a fluid process, with the contract continually updated to reflect how needs are changing and risk is shifting.”

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.