In the business world, it’s a given that competition is good for consumers. Battles over market share tend to drive quality up, push prices down and spawn new products and services. When it comes to healthcare, however, some see competition as a dirty word. Shouldn’t caring for patients be closer to a public service than a commercial enterprise? On some levels, absolutely—but not on every level, suggests David Partridge.

The Minnesota Department of Health has determined that, in 2014, North Star Staters spent at least $55 million on procedures considered “low value” by Choosing Wisely criteria—and some 92,000 of those procedures were imaging exams.

Judging by thousands of insurance claims, spinal manipulation does little to tamp down the overall costs of treating low-back pain. Further, the popular therapy is often preceded by costly and unnecessary imaging exams.

Opportunities for individuals thinking about becoming medical-imaging technologists are opening up in Northern California, where demand is increasing and the Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts has begun offering certificate and two-year associate degrees from a new campus in in Sacramento County.

Siemens CFO Ralf Thomas expressed the company's continued interest in splitting off Siemens Healthineers, its healthcare division. He said Siemens is exploring three potential paths: a spinoff, an initial public offering or a reverse merger with a public company.

Congressmen Ryan Costello, R-Pennsylvania, and Scott Peters, D-California, were commended by the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) for introducing bipartisan legislation to ensure consistency in regulation for the proper servicing of medical devices.

CMS’s Quality Payment Program (QPP), which went live with the 2015 enactment of MACRA, represents the biggest single development in U.S. healthcare since President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law in 1965.

Around a quarter of the CT installed base in Europe is so outdated that it can’t be upgraded with the latest advances in, for example, radiation dose-management and reiterative reconstruction.