Policy & Regulations

This channel includes news coverage of healthcare policy and regulations set by Congress, the states, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and medical associations and societies. 

Row over radiology in Canada affecting patients as well as providers

A radiology issue that had been dogging Quebec has become a two-province problem, with patients crossing into Ontario as Quebec imaging centers reel from the loss of business.

Wake Radiology seeks to join forces with UNC Rex

A joint venture is afoot between the oldest and largest radiology practice in North Carolina’s Triangle area and the healthcare system of one of the oldest hospitals in the U.S.

Thumbnail

Payola is one problem radiology doesn’t have to reckon with

A new study confirms the lack of an association between increased imaging utilization and monies, gifts or perks given to rads for purposes other than supporting research.

Thumbnail

Self-examination is crucial before making drastic MACRA-related changes

It’s official: The reporting window for MACRA has begun. While CMS has eased the reporting requirements for 2017, calling it a transition year, practices aiming for full participation still need to report all of the required measurements for a continuous period of at least 90 days. In fact, groups looking to maximize their chances of a positive adjustment should report as much data as possible, according to CMS.

Thumbnail

Structured reporting cuts coding errors, facilitates full reimbursement

Incomplete radiology reports that lead to inappropriate coding and, thus, hits to reimbursement can be headed off by structured reporting, according to a study conducted at NYU Langone School of Medicine and published online Dec. 24 in the Journal of the American College of Radiology. 

Thumbnail

Radiologists encouraged to go ‘fishing’

“He looked across the sea and knew how alone he was now. But he could see the prisms in the deep dark water and the line stretching ahead and the strange undulation of the calm.” So wrote Ernest Hemingway in The Old Man and the Sea. And what does this have to do with medical imaging? 

How to track inconsistencies in CT protocol usage

The CT Protocol team at the University of Wisconsin have created a methodology for measuring organizational adherence to standardized CT protocols, published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology. Based on finding outliers in a large pool of scanning data, the workflows can be scaled to any size practice and are intended to help imaging centers identify problems.

Researchers use radioactive tracer, PET imaging to fight hunger

As the global population is steadily growing at a rate of 88 million people per year, researchers are using advanced nuclear methods to study pest resistance in corn that could help to make significant strides toward solving global food shortages.

Around the web

Positron, a New York-based nuclear imaging company, will now provide Upbeat Cardiology Solutions with advanced PET/CT systems and services. 

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.