AuntMinnie: What is the role of radiologists in holding down healthcare costs? Forman: All of medicine could do a better job at being efficient -- we have the same ethical responsibility as any other industry. And radiologists don't have any greater role than any other physician specialty. We certainly shouldn't be wasteful, and I do think we're well aware of the fact that there are areas where imaging is wasteful.

imagingBiz | While the volume of CT scans administered in emergency rooms have increased dramatically in recent years, a new study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine links such an increase to fewer hospital admissions. According to the study, the use of CT scans in emergency departments rose by 330% between 1996 and 2007.

How to keep your hospital radiology contract - AuntMinnie September 13, 2011 -- Radiology groups are losing hospital contracts in record numbers as imaging services have become increasingly commoditized -- especially with the advent of teleradiology, which gives groups a break from night call but also exposes them to the threat of replacement. There are strategies, however, that radiologists can use to align their practices more closely to the goals of the hospitals they serve, thus making themselves less disposable, according to a presentation at the recent AHRA meeting in Grapevine, TX

Meaningful Use Can be Meaningful for Radiologists, Too
With an estimated $1.5 billion in potential bonus payments at stake, radiologists should study and respond to recent federal regulations related to meaningful use of complete certified ambulatory electronic health records and their equivalents, said authors of a study in the September issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
Meaningful use is a hot topic thanks to major incentives for providers who “meaningfully use” certified EHR systems, as well as the looming penalties for those who don’t.

In a new article published in the August issue of Imaging Economics, researchers explore the reasoning behind U.S. adults' selection of access to imaging as one of the most important characteristics of their healthcare plans, as found in an independent survey conducted by Harris Interactive. Specifically, the survey data show that "unrestricted access to all medical technologies such as MRI and CT" was the second-leading priority in individuals' health insurance plan features, following only premium cost. This survey was conducted online in October and November 2010 among 2,052 U.S.

A bipartisan group of senators, including John Kerry (D-MA), Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN), sent a letter to the Obama Administration, protesting inclusion of any diagnostic imaging cuts in legislation to raise the debt ceiling. The ACR and the ACR-cofounded Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC) worked to gather signatures for the letter, which emphasizes how cuts to imaging can stifle medical innovation, create job loss, and negatively impact patient care.

That old party favor, the helium balloon, somewhat bothers Dr. Rakesh A. Shah.

"I go to kids' parties all the time, and see helium balloons," Shah said. "As fun as they are, someday these kids may wish our generation had instead saved the helium for the MRI studies they may need as adults."

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Face it, folks: In less than six months, all healthcare providers who bill for the technical component of advanced imaging services must be accredited under the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) of 2008. More than a few facilities are scrambling to get in under the wire.

The computed tomography scanning machines at Inova Alexandria Hospital are typically used to diagnose strokes, blood clots and other internal injuries. But recently the hospital utilized its CT scanners for an unconventional purpose: to examine the skulls of deceased children who have gone unidentified for years. Over the past year, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children joined forces with the radiology department at Inova to help unlock the mysteries behind three such cold cases, plus that of one adult.

A recent study in the Journal of the American College of Radiology suggests that self-referral in medical imaging may be a significant contributing factor in diagnostic imaging growth.

Self-referred imaging is identified as physicians (or non-physicians) who are not radiologists directing their patients to their own on-site imaging services or the referral of patients to outside facilities in which the referring physicians have financial interest.