Winning the battle by maintaining or growing market share is a tall order. Though there is no guaranteed formula for success, five strategies can help practices stay atop the competition.

Estimates suggest the annual bill for fraud in the U.S. hovers between $68 and $234 billion, or 3 to 10 percent of healthcare expenditures, while efforts to curb fraud have met with modest success at best, according to a commentary in The American Journal of Managed Care. The authors recommended physicians partner with regulators and employ health services research to address “rampant” Medicare and Medicaid fraud and waste.

Physicians who introduce the topic of cost into discussions with their patients may find it resembles talking to the proverbial wall. Focus group findings show that public attitudes about healthcare costs must shift significantly for cost to be an explicit factor in clinical decisions, according to an article published in the February issue of Health Affairs. 

Disclosing radiologic findings directly to patients should be based on the radiologist’s confidence in the results, not on the severity of the findings, according to an article published in the March issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Defining appropriate use of imaging dominated this week’s headlines, suggesting radiology’s challenging balancing act.

A classification system that categorizes repeat medical imaging into four types could better help researchers and policy makers discriminate between necessary repeat diagnostic imaging and questionable repeat exams. The American College of Radiology’s Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute released a proposed repeat imaging classification grid Feb. 19 in a policy brief.

Imaging software and hardware vendor Viztek has launched Viztek Capital, the company’s financial services arm, to provide funding and leasing options for Viztek’s full range of technology.

Quality improvement has taken center stage in diagnostic radiology residency programs, as the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education now requires experience with quality improvement. Four types of quality improvement projects may be particularly appropriate for residents, according to an article published online Feb. 18 in the Journal of American College of Radiology.