The biggest problem we have as practice administrators or physicians is that we see management reports illustrating the end result and process failures contributing to revenue declines are not evident. As long as we, as an industry, insist on the lowest price, we will continue to get what we pay for in terms of over-automation and failures of process controls.

While the Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s essential health benefits are now on the chopping block to entice the more conservative members of the House into supporting the American Health Care Act, losing the requirement that insurers cover preventative cancer screening isn’t a foregone conclusion.

The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) said the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) March 2017 report to Congress misrepresents the growth in imaging utilization, a criticism consistently levied by imaging advocates against MedPAC over the past decade.

The medical regulatory body of the European Union (EU) recommended four gadolinium contrast agents be pulled from the market because of concerns about gadolinium deposition in the brain. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) suspended the marketing authorizations for the four agents after a review by its risk assessment committee.

The ACA replacement bill appears to leave intact pieces of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) beneficial to radiologists, namely the expansion of preventative cancer screening. While it’s an encouraging sign, the tri-part repeal-and-replace process means radiologists should keep their ears to the ground, according to Chris Sherin, Director of Congressional Affairs at the American College of Radiology (ACR).

Radiology officials during a legislative session in West Virginia discussed a bill that takes a shot at doing away with the West Virginia Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Technology Board of Examiners.

A coalition of colorectal cancer societies and advocacy groups urged Congress to pass legislation covering CT colonography under Medicare, the latest development in a decades-long effort to increase colorectal cancer screening rates. The CT Colonography Screening for Colorectal Cancer Act (House Resolution 1298) was introduced in early March by Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, and Danny Davis, D-Illinois.

At least five states have introduced legislation requiring insurers to cover Digital Breast Tomosynthesis, also known as 3D mammography. The economic and clinical benefits of DBT are well-established, but the passage of the bills may come down the legislative climate of the individual states, according to Eugenia Brandt, Director of State Affairs for the American College of Radiology.