Policy & Regulations

This channel includes news coverage of healthcare policy and regulations set by Congress, the states, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and medical associations and societies. 

mammogram mammography breast cancer

Mammography guideline changes have produced a ‘harmful’ spillover effect

Mammography screening trends had remained flat, but they fell across all age groups after the USPSTF issued new guidelines in 2009.

insurance payer payment insurer

New prior authorization policy coming down the pipeline, American College of Radiology warns

CMS first announced the change late last year via the 2023 Outpatient Prospective Payment System/Ambulatory Surgical Center Final Rule. 

Soft-tissue tumor locator wins breakthrough device status

A cancer treatment product developed by Merit Medical Systems of South Jordan, Utah, has been designated a breakthrough device by the FDA.

GE HealthCare recalling nuclear imaging systems as FDA warns of dangerous consequences

The FDA alerted patients and providers about the issue Feb. 15, labeling it as the agency’s “most serious” type of recall. 

Neha Patel doesn’t want her radiologist husband prosecuted for attempted vehicular homicide

The radiologist suspected of trying to murder his wife and children by deliberately driving the family car over a 250-foot cliff has an unlikely ally in his corner.

insurance payer payment insurer

Radiologists among 100-plus physician groups urging CMS to take swift action on prior authorization

The American Society of Neuroradiology and Society of Interventional Radiology want the agency to bust what they say is a burdensome barrier to imaging and other crucial aspects of U.S. medicine.

ACR joins with Texas Medical Association in declaring an important ‘No Surprises’ win

The American College of Radiology is cheering a Feb. 6 decision by a federal judge in Texas who ruled that parts of the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process in the Surprise Billing Final Rule violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

Headlines and ire follow serially sued, disciplined radiologist despite 700-mile move

The radiologist who received, in one patient’s view, a mere “slap on the wrist” for missing a couple dozen breast cancers over several years is back in the news.

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.