Management

This page includes content on healthcare management, including health system, hospital, department and clinic business management and administration. Areas of focus are on cardiology and radiology department business administration. Subcategories covered in this section include healthcare economics, reimbursement, leadership, mergers and acquisitions, policy and regulations, practice management, quality, staffing, and supply chain.

An example of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) imaging. Image courtesy of RSNA

Despite radiation exposure and fracture risk, pricey QCT bone density scans are rising in popularity

The increase may be an unintended result of a cut in DXA reimbursement rates in 2007, a MedPage Today article suggests. 

Experts highlight 'suboptimal' rates of CMS-required shared decision making encounters prior to LDCT

These findings underscore the need for better implementation of shared decision-making (SDM) models, as well as more thorough counseling documentation, as low-dose CT (LDCT) lung screen coverage is dependent on these factors, experts suggested.

The ASNC is one of several medical imaging societies asking Congress to repeal the appropriate use criteria (AUC) criteria mandate. They say it poses issues for clinicians and is becoming outdated by changes in CMS payment systems. The AUC requirements call for documentation using CVMS authorized software in order to show advanced imaging such as nuclear and CT is justified, or else Medicare payments might be withheld.

American Society of Nuclear Cardiology urges Congress to speed prior authorizations, repeal AUC mandate 

Over the past few weeks, members of ASNC’s Health Policy Committee have held meetings with their members of Congress.

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6 ways healthcare organizations can help the disruptive radiologist

Radiologists, like all other people, can sometimes react to difficult situations with disruptive behavior.

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Significant disparities exist in utilization of self-scheduling radiology exams, research shows

Researchers revealed that less than 1% of more than 46,000 patients took advantage of online self-scheduling tools.

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AI boosts performance of novice nurses when assessing pregnant patients via ultrasound

Using a handheld probe and smartphone, nurse midwives were able to estimate gestational age as accurately as certified sonographers.


 

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Radiologist pay hits $437,000, good for 8th place among highest earning physician specialists

This marks the 1st time in the survey’s 11-year history that physicians across all areas of expertise earned a pay increase, including radiologists, who gained 6%, Medscape reported Friday.  

New York Albany capitol

New York grants nurse practitioners full practice authority, despite radiologist opposition

The move allows Empire State NPs to order and interpret diagnostic tests without requiring a written practice agreement from a physician. 

Around the web

The patient, who was being cared for in the ICU, was not accompanied or monitored by nursing staff during his exam, despite being sedated.

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.