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.

AHRA Endorses Are You Dense Advocacy

The Association for Medical Imaging Management (AHRA) announced during its annual meeting in Los Angeles that it endorses Are You Dense Advocacy Inc , the patient advocacy group that has pushed for breast density notification laws at the state and national level

Obama Budget Cuts $400 Billion in Health Care Spending

The budget includes money for a fix to the flawed SGR formula for calculating physician payments and recommends closing of the in-office ancillary services exception (IOASE) to the Stark self-referral law.

FDA Approves First Android Medical Image Viewer

Canada’s Calgary Scientific Inc has received FDA clearance to market their ResolutionMD™ software to diagnose medical images on Android devices

Viztek Adds Digital Breast Tomosynthesis Viewing

Viztek says it is now the first PACS vendor to provide viewing capabilities for digital breast tomosynthesis imaging and eliminate the need for a stand-alone viewing system

Tax Foundation Calls Medical Device Tax Bad Policy

The cost of the 2.3% excise tax on the manufacturers of medical devices will come out of money spent on research and development, and the pockets of patients, predicts the nonpartisan research organization

WSJ Highlights Progress and Challenges in Dose Reduction

The Wall Street Journal put a spotlight on radiologists’ and manufacturers’ efforts to minimize radiation from CT scanning

OIG, CMS Propose Expanding Anti-Kickback Safe Harbors to Speed EHR Adoption

Under Federal anti-kickback regulations, giving referring physicians software has long counted as a valuable gift that could induce improper referrals. Now the government is recognizing that this well intentioned regulation may be harming efforts to increase interoperability of electronic health records (EHRs)

Health Care Remains Up in Otherwise Weak Jobs Report

Health care employment rose by in March to 14,516,600 people, making it one of the few bright spots in the Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly jobs report

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.