While the pols dicker about whose health-care bill will save Medicare, a changing of the guard commences at the Office of the National Coordinator, and the states take their concerns to the courts, one thing has become increasingly clear: Without health IT to turn the vast web of discrete clinical, administrative, and financial transactions that is

President Obama’s proposed $3.7 trillion budget for fiscal 2012 calls for a two-year postponement of the scheduled 25% cut in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) under the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, according to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Announced on Monday, the budget would

The Image Gently campaign, conducted by the ACR’s Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging, has developed a series of online teaching materials and checklists as part of its Pause & Pulse campaign to help providers use the lowest dose necessary to perform fluoroscopic procedures on children.

Ina much-anticipated decision, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval to bring to market a digital breast tomosynthesis system. The system, called Selenia Dimensions (Dimensions 3-D), is offered by Hologic, Inc, of Bedford, Mass.

Health-care enterprises small and large continue to struggle with accommodating an ever-growing archive of imaging data—and efficient, long-term storage of these data is just part of the challenge. ImagingBiz.com spoke with Chuck Christian, CIO at Good Samaritan Hospital, Vincennes, Indiana, about the community hospital’s approach to storing and

Aging imaging equipment presents a counterintuitive conundrum for facilities: even as a CT or MR system becomes less and less clinically relevant, lacking the features and power of newer models, it becomes more expensive to own and maintain. “In order for imaging equipment to be effective, it has to be utilized,” says Doug Fischer, CEO of Imaging

Comparative-effectiveness research has become the platform for several organizations, including the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER). Based at the Institute for Technology Assessment at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, ICER’s mission is to lead comparative-effectiveness–research innovation through methods that the

Randy Roat says, “The news for radiology could be worse.” Roat, vice president of radiology services for Medical Management Professionals, Inc. (MMP), Atlanta, Georgia, refers to the reimbursement changes contained in the 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). “Counterintuitively, almost every single one of the imaging RVUs was raised,” he