The Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) announced earlier this week that it supports a new bill it says would increase access to government-funded graduate medical education (GME) to newly recognized primary medical specialties such as interventional radiology. 

If passed, new bipartisan legislation would require Medicare to recognize qualified radiology assistants as non-physician practitioners. Professionals with non-physician practitioner status can perform certain key tasks, helping doctors manage their workloads.  

Women’s imaging network Mammosphere hosted its first #Mammochat Twitter Q&A last month, emphasizing the importance of communication between patients and healthcare providers.

The Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) has released new recommendations related to the proper staffing of interventional radiology suites, publishing them in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology.

A historic new law in Wisconsin allows physical therapists (PTs) to order x-rays directly from radiologists. It is the first state to pass a law that unequivocally says PTs have this right. 

The American College of Radiology (ACR) has published its comments on the proposed rule CMS released in February, Program Integrity Enhancements to the Provider Enrollment Process (CMS-6058-P). CMS said the rule was created as part of the ongoing effort to keep “questionable providers and suppliers” from entering Medicare and make it easier to quickly identify “instances of improper behavior.” 

Researchers from the NYU Langone Medical Center recently found that radiologists were more likely to adhere to recommendations developed through collaboration at the institutional level than recommendations passed down from a larger organization. The study, published by lead author Danny C. Kim, MD, and colleagues for the Journal of the American College of Radiology, made a lasting impression on me. 

DITTA, a global trade association for the diagnostic imaging, radiation therapy, healthcare IT, electromedical and radiopharmaceutical industries, issued a statement this week welcoming the publication of the Good Refurbishment Practices for Medical Imaging Equipment document by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA).