This is the final article in a series of three providing a primer for radiologists and imaging professionals interested in clinical trials.

If at first you don’t succeed, then go ahead and fail, but do it intelligently. Failure, in fact, not only should be dissected and analyzed, but should be planned for—and, if done well, celebrated. That’s because failure, according to Amy C. Edmondson, not only is inevitable in complex systems (such as a busy hospital emergency department), but is

After a period of hypergrowth from 1994 to 1996, hospital mergers and acquisitions declined from a height of more than 450 transactions in 1996 to a mere 50 in 2009. John Reiboldt, managing director of Coker Capital Advisors (Alpharetta, Georgia), says that the merger/acquisition market is heating up once again with the return of many of the

Nearly every radiology department or practice will be affected by accountable-care organizations (ACOs)—because even if it chooses not to become part of one or more ACOs, it will probably be competing with them. Since some types of ACOs will be granted the ability to sidestep current price-fixing and self-referral restrictions, according to

The idea is at once simple and profound: An entirely new health-care provider, given incentives by the Medicare Shared Savings Program to defragment health-care delivery, improve quality and patients’ health, and reduce costs—thereby preserving Medicare and fee-for-service reimbursement. It’s the much-discussed but little-understood accountable

It is a daunting task to understand and stay current with the various Medicare rules that have an impact on the delivery of radiology and imaging services. The fast-approaching effective date for the accreditation of advanced radiology services, the new supervision rules, and the proper use of radiologist extenders (radiologist assistants or

The likelihood that patients with intermittent caludification will undergo revascularization is highest when those patients are treated by cardiologists and vascular surgeons, even if exercise is the preferred approach, according to research to be presented this week during the American Roentgen Ray Society’s annual meeting in Chicago.

In the midst of a hostile, $6-per-share, $3.3 billion takeover bid for rival Tenet Healthcare, Community Health Systems (CHS) last Thursday defended itself against Tenet’s allegations of improper patient admission practices, calling them “contrived and biased.” The move follows a lawsuit filed by Tenet on April 11, in which it charged CHS—whose