DALLAS—The accountable care organization (ACO) is an unknown for most physicians and administrators, partially because the government has not yet defined final ACO rules. However, radiology practices can and should begin to prepare for the transition to the ACO model. In fact, the push to ACOs provides an opportunity for radiology practices to re-imagine their businesses, said Jef Williams and Shawn McKenzie, both of Ascendian Healthcare Consulting, during a presentation Aug. 16 at the annual meeting of AHRA.

athenahealth, a developer of cloud-based practice management, EHR and patient communication services to medical groups, has signed an agreement with the Maine Medical Center Physician-Hospital Organization (MMC PHO), a nonprofit partnership of the MMC and the Community Physicians of Maine (CPM).

DALLASReal-life Lean management tactics can produce real outcomes, confirmed James T. Timpe, MS, RT, and Airica Steed, RN, MBA, both of Advocate Condell Medical Center, Libertyville, Ill., during an educational session Aug. 14 at the annual AHRA meeting.

DALLASThe hospital represents more than 80 percent of revenue for many radiology practices, yet breakups between practices and hospitals have become increasingly common, shared Patricia Kroken, principal at Healthcare Resource Providers in Albuquerque, N.M., during an educational session at the annual meeting of AHRA on Aug. 14. These breakups may signify the proverbial canary in the coal mine.

National Imaging Associates (NIA) and the American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO) have signed a collaborative agreement to establish guidelines in radiation therapy treatment.

Radiology Imaging Associates in Prince Frederick, Md. has deployed Hitachi Medical Systems' Scenaria 64-slice CT scanner.

Partners HealthCare Systems in Boston is now providing clinicians mobile access to its EHR via Intersystems technology.

Mon General Hospital has decided to install a full suite of enterprise-level cardiology information systems from Merge Healthcare.