As Congress went to recess last week, one item of business left unfinished was an extension of the Federal Helium Reserve  program, a reservoir of the gas that accounts for 40 percent of the U.S. consumption, according to the Washington Post.

Medical imaging equipment purchasers appear largely content with their current vendors, according to a recent survey of brand loyalty. The entrenched market likely means an uphill battle for competitors looking to unseat a market leader.

As the AHRA annual meeting in Minneapolis came to a close on Wednesday, the radiology administrators in attendance returned home, hopefully having learned some valuable lessons about dose reduction, patient engagement or any of the other myriad topics discussed at the conference.

In a rare demonstration of bipartisanship, the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously passed legislation, H.R. 2810, the Medicare Patient Access and Quality Improvement Act of 2013, to repeal and replace the antiquated Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR).

MINNEAPOLIS—The Joint Commission’s Sentinel Event Alert, Issue 47, from 2011, made a number of recommendations to reduce the radiation risks of diagnostic imaging. Two years later, practices that have not complied simply require leadership and initiative, as most of the suggested actions are well known and some are easily implemented, according to a presentation July 30 at the annual meeting of the AHRA.

The Obama administration hyped healthcare spending rates for the last 12 months, noting that the increase is the lowest in the last 50 years. Hospital readmissions dropped as well, and the growth rate for premiums on employer-sponsored plans was clipped at 3 percent. In addition, price tags on state-sponsored health insurance rates are coming in well below projections in many states. Read more at the link below.

MINNEAPOLIS—Changing fee schedules have been chipping away at radiology payments on multiple fronts, creating a triple threat that looks to continue to reduce charges in the coming years, according to a presentation from Ezequiel Silva III, MD, of University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, delivered at the annual meeting of AHRA.

Tustin, Calif., July 29, 2013 – Providing hospitals with resources to expand or create education and patient care initiatives, AHRA: The Association for Medical Imaging Management announces the sixth year of its Putting Patients First Program. Putting Patients First grants enable healthcare facilities to fund programs, training or seminars aimed at improving patient care and safety in CT, MR, Ultrasound, X-ray and Vascular imaging. The grants are funded by an unrestricted educational grant from Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.