MITA taps Powell Tate for medical imaging campaign

The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) has hired Powell Tate, a communications and public affairs firm, for a campaign promoting the importance of medical imaging technology both for patients and lowering healthcare costs.

The association said patient care and the industry itself have been adversely affected by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which cut some $13 billion from Medicare that had been devoted to the technology.

"The importance of the integrated campaign is to educate folks on the value of medical imaging—not only that it benefits patients but also saves cost to the healthcare system," said MITA vice president Andrew Whitman. "The [cuts] have not only affected our industry, but we're seeing... effects on patients."

One prime goal of the company's outreach is to ensure that Congress makes no further cuts to Medicare funding for medical imaging, said Eric Hoffman, Powell Tate senior vice president and management supervisor.

Communications will include media outreach toward health policy publications and health reporters at various major media outlets, as well as grassroots communications directed at members of Congress and its staff by association members and patients who were adversely affected by the cuts, Hoffman said.

The six-figure contract runs through June, when the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services makes its annual funding decisions, Whitman said.

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