Whether you’re using a pocket-guide to keep track of activities, or keeping your RSNA schedule online, the 100th Annual Meeting of the RSNA is just a turkey away, so it’s time to dig in and finalize your plans. As far as what you might expect to see and hear at RSNA this year, ImagingBiz and radiologybusiness.com will keep you up to date with the latest news and information online. So whether you’ll be in Chicago or monitoring the meeting from home, you can get everything right here. This issue of ImagingBiz brings you information on what will surely be some of the hot topics of this year’s meeting.

The flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula is a dark cloud of uncertainty that annually hangs over healthcare practitioners, threatening to trigger the government-mandated double digit cut in reimbursement rates for Medicare beneficiaries. When the temporary SGR patch was extended in April 2014 (for the 17th time), it was the inclusion of the ICD-10 delay that took healthcare by surprise and overshadowed other provisions of the Act. While the ICD-10 delay certainly warrants the attention of healthcare providers, there are other provisions included in the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) of 2014 that deserve equal attention so that clinicians can prepare for the impending changes.

Tomosynthesis is a relatively new type of imaging technology that utilizes x-rays to create a 3-dimensional image of the breast and is mainly used to detect and diagnose cancers. Not yet considered the standard in clinical care, most imaging centers still employ conventional digital mammograms as their primary method of detecting breast cancer. Conventional mammograms take x-rays of the breast from different angles to create cross-sectional 2-dimensional images. Imaging centers must decide if replacing existing conventional mammography systems with tomosynthesis makes sense from a clinical and financial perspective. What are some factors that drive this decision making process? Will adding this technology to your imaging center create value for shareholders?

Last spring three-hospital Kennedy Health System in southern New Jersey and RadNet, the Los Angeles-based network of 250-plus outpatient imaging centers, announced their joint venture. On Nov. 10 the resulting entity—Garden State Radiology Network—officially launched.

RamSoft PowerServer 6.0 has achieved ONC HIT 2014 Edition complete EHR certification, which designates that the software is capable of supporting eligible providers with meeting the Stage 1 and Stage 2 Meaningful Use measures required to qualify for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  PowerServer 6.0 was certified on October 10, 2014 by ICSA Labs, an Office of the National Coordinator-Authorized Certification Body (ONC-ACB) and is compliant in accordance with applicable criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

CMS chose Halloween to issue a review copy of the 2015 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule, foreshadowing a 21.2% reduction in payment rates for all physicians beginning April Fool’s Day, and a few choice tricks for radiology on January 1.

Three days at RBMA’s Fall Educational Conference in Seattle seemed hardly enough time to attend educational sessions, network with colleagues, share best practices and visit the exhibit hall, but attendees took advantage of every minute to discuss the topics most important to them. From ICD-10 preparations to joint ventures and regional radiology associations, radiology’s business managers were eager to share and learn new ideas from each other.

Virtual Radiologic has added a new service aimed at radiology practices that want to know how they’re performing 24/7 in all sorts of clinical and operational activities.