The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that its Recovery Audit Prepayment Review Demonstration will move forward by June 1.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today proposed that coverage for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) be approved under coverage with evidence development (CED) for certain conditions.

Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) of imaging orders has the potential to improve healthcare efficiency, safety and cost-effectiveness, but only if clinicians get behind implementation of such systems. That might not be a problem, however, as an imaging CPOE system with embedded decision support can be broadly accepted clinically, according to a 10-year study of CPOE use at a large, university-affiliated facility published in the February issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

The mandated Jan. 1 conversion to a new set of electronic claims transaction standards is not going smoothly for office-based physicians, disrupting medical groups' cash flow and creating hassles, according to the head of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA)-American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE).

Chemotherapy alone has been shown to be an effective treatment for Hodgkins lymphoma, with a higher rate of overall survival than a treatment strategy combining chemotherapy with radiation therapy, according to a study published in the Feb. 2 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The Utah State Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Jan. 31 approved legislation encouraging facilities to notify women of their breast density status. The legislation will be sent to the state Senate for consideration.

Concerns that surgical breast biopsies, as opposed to percutaneous core needle biopsies, were being overused may be unfounded as the true surgical breast biopsy rate is likely somewhere between 2 percent and 18 percent, which is close to the recommended rate, according to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

GE Capital and GE Healthcare have invested in Check-Cap, developer of an ingestible imaging capsule that may help detect colorectal cancer.