Physicians should educate themselves on their potential role in an accountable care organization (ACO) model and make sure they know their options before the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approves ACOs for the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) beginning next year, according to an article in the September issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

Healthcare costs are the new elephant in the room and providing cost-conscious care should be the seventh general competency for U.S. physicians, according to an editorial appearing in the Sept. 20 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. The approach includes reducing unnecessary imaging studies to help cut the estimated $700 billion in wasted healthcare spending annually.

A study published in the Sept. 27 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that, in emergency department (ED) patients experiencing low-risk, acute chest pain, the use of early coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) is a more rapid and cost-efficient test than rest-stress myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). An editorial in the same issue of the journal, while acknowledging the studys conclusions in some cases, stressed that there are many factors that could make other tests besides CCTA more beneficial.

The American College of Radiology (ACR) has expressed its opposition to draft recommendations aimed at eliminating the Sustainable Growth Rate released by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), saying the recommendations are not based on sound evidence.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has partially intervened in a lawsuit under the False Claims Act filed by a whistleblower against Halifax Health Medical Center of Daytona Beach, Fla., and Halifax Staffing.

The day before President Barack Obama presented Congress with a new plan to tackle high unemployment, two noted economists forecasted a loss of 43,000 American jobs in the medical device industry. The culprit, they explained in a report released Sept. 7, will be the Presidents healthcare reform law.

High physician fees, rather than factors such as practice costs, volume of services or tuition expenses, were the main drivers of higher U.S. healthcare spending and physician income, according to research presented in the September issue of Health Affairs.

The U.S. nonprofit healthcare sector has, and will continue to, face challenges in terms of declining revenue and volume growth trends, according to 2010 medians data outlined in a Moodys Investors Service report.