New Templates for Recession-resistant Marketing

February 15, 2010 | RadBrand Builder

Marketing radiology services can represent a significant challenge, particularly in an increasingly consumer-driven medical marketplace, where outreach to patients requires reconfiguring a familiar line of messaging. Nancy McNee Newell, vice president of marketing for Diagnostic Health Corp (DHC), Birmingham, Alabama, calls it the softer side of imaging. “You have... Read More »

Radiology Assistants: A User’s Guide

February 15, 2010 | A Better Mousetrap

From May 2007 to January 2008, an Atlanta, Georgia-based radiologist signed and submitted thousands of reports in his name, with one major caveat—he didn’t review a single one. Instead, he delegated the work to his radiology practitioner assistants (RPAs), who interpreted the exams and prepared the reports. In November 2009,... Read More »

Relationships Gone Wild

February 15, 2010 | The Big Picture

All across the country, in markets large and small, a drama once considered unimaginable is unfolding in ways that are shaking the confidence of many radiology practitioners and creating tension within the ranks of hospital administrators. The issue relates to the unilateral breaking apart of longstanding exclusive contracts with... Read More »

Preventing a MAC Attack: The Importance of Radiology Charge-capture Audits

January 26, 2010 | Reimbursment

The advent of Medicare administrative contractors has emphasized the importance of ensuring that charge capture is consistent and accurate for the professional and technical components of care. This affects many areas, but arguably, none more greatly than outpatient diagnostic and interventional-radiology services. Hospitals and physicians encounter many challenges in... Read More »

Radiology Billing, CSI: Managing Individual Payor Contracts

January 26, 2010 | Finance

At NYU Langone Medical Center (NYULMC), New York, New York, even though the radiology department’s billing office adheres to the principle of a cross-trained staff pool, it practices the explicit division of labor: Coders do nothing but code, payment posters post payments, claims processors specialize in making sure... Read More »

Strategies for Accommodating Self-pay Patients

January 18, 2010 | Revenue Track

As the ranks of the uninsured continue to grow, it is increasingly important for radiology practices to implement strategies for dealing with self-pay patients, according to Randal Roat, CHBME, and Jana Landreth, CPA, MBA, of Medical Management Professionals (MMP), a physician billing and practice-management company... Read More »

Asset Management for Imaging Reduces Waste

December 22, 2009 | A Better Mousetrap

Scarce capital, these days, poses a serious threat to imaging enterprises hoping to see even modest growth. Blame the economy if you will, but there are any number of other contributing factors, including the rapid commoditization of equipment maintenance, punishing tax rates, investment-portfolio losses, and the hold that regulations... Read More »

All Eyes on Accreditation

December 21, 2009 | Quality

In July 2008, Congress passed the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA), which, among other provisions, mandated that all outpatient providers of advanced diagnostic imaging services be accredited by a CMS-designated body by January 1, 2012, in order to receive Medicare reimbursement for the technical component of an exam. Advanced... Read More »

Building Bridges

December 01, 2009 | Feature

Few would argue that one of the most impressive accomplishments of engineering, throughout history, has been the bridge. From the towering Golden Gate to the simple plank stretched across a stream, bridge design and construction are the essence of problem solving. Bridges exist for no other reason than to... Read More »

Managing the Revenue Cycle

December 01, 2009 | Feature

Viewing revenue-cycle management as a function limited only to billing is shortsighted at best, and is more likely to be a mistake. Revenue-cycle management affects the entire practice, imaging center, and hospital radiology department, from a new patient’s first inquiry (whether made by telephone, through an online portal,... Read More »

RSNA 2009: A Finger on the Pulse and An Eye to the Future

December 01, 2009 | Feature

This year’s meeting of the RSNA in Chicago, Illinois, to be held November 29 through December 4, will feature approximately 4,000 scientific papers, posters, and educational exhibits, and despite the recession, the society expects to welcome nearly 60,000 attendees from around the globe. The meeting will include perennial favorites like the mock... Read More »

Why Design Matters in Imaging

October 14, 2009 | A Better Mousetrap

It’s design that can make patients choose one imaging provider over another, according to Morris A. Stein, FAIA, FACHA. At the architecture/engineering firm HKS, Inc, Franklin, Tennessee, Stein is a principal. He presented “Designing the Imaging Experience: Understanding Today’s Requirements for Size, Technology, and Environments” on... Read More »

Finding Benchmarks for Imaging’s Operating Costs

October 02, 2009 | Priors

The operational management of medical imaging is obviously a significant expense, yet it has rarely been studied. In 1999, 55% of imaging costs were spent on compensation.¹ Today, compensation accounts for 65% of imaging costs.² Since salaries have remained in line with inflation rates, this means that staffing levels, overtime,... Read More »

Restructuring the Balance Sheet

October 02, 2009 | Feature

If you are anything like me, you have had a few sleepless nights worrying about the future of the health-services industry. Historically, the industry has been a safe haven for investment due to the fact that it is not directly dependent on economic cycles. That, however, has changed in... Read More »

The Impact of 320 Detector Rows: Aquilion ONE in the Pediatric Setting

October 02, 2009 | Feature

Sponsored by Toshiba America Medical Systems

Dose is a central consideration in the CT suite for the pediatric patient, and finding a scanner that minimized dose to a level as low as technically achievable was the primary consideration for Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH), Little Rock, when... Read More »

DR Done the Right Way

September 11, 2009 | Radinformatics

If service, patient safety, and profit weren’t incentives enough, now hospitals and imaging clinics have another inducement to go digital: the Obama administration’s federal health care stimulus plan, which stresses health care IT and electronic medical records.

Steven Mendelsohn, MD, says, “The only choice to... Read More »

Training Technologists to Smile

September 09, 2009 | RadBrand Builder

In many imaging offices, the reception staff is coached and scripted, and its members might even engage in role-playing exercises in order to create the best experience for patients.

Once patients have been checked in, the next people with whom they will come in contact are likely... Read More »

Iterative Reconstruction: Ready for Its Close-up?

August 17, 2009 | Enterprise View

Enhanced image clarity, less noise, and half the radiation exposure for patients: sound good? It’s true. It’s iterative reconstruction, and it’s a mounting wave in multidetector CT technology. There’s only one catch—it’s time-consuming unless you happen to have the proprietary software of the... Read More »

Taking Advantage of the Radiology Audit

August 17, 2009 | Revenue Track

A radiology provider should look at an audit as a strategic opportunity, not a punishment, Claudia A. Murray, RCC, told her audience at the RBMA 2009 Radiology Summit in Orlando, Florida, on June 8. Murray, who presented “Internal Compliance Auditing: How to Implement an Effective (and Doable) Audit Plan,” is a... Read More »

Developing Innovative Customer-service Initiatives

August 17, 2009 | RadBrand Builder

It could be the smiling greeter who welcomes patients into the facility, or the glasses of lemon water and the tray of cookies keeping them company in the waiting room. Perhaps the wide variety of magazines will make all the difference, or the new carpet.

Radiological Associates... Read More »

Accessing Capital in a Tight Credit Market

July 26, 2009 | Finance

After weathering last fall’s fiscal catastrophe, many hospital CFOs now find themselves in Bert Zimmerli’s position. Though Zimmerli is senior vice president and CFO of the only health care system in the country to receive the highest credit rating from both Standard & Poor&rsquo... Read More »

Trademarking and Copyrighting: The Beginner’s Guide

July 15, 2009 | RadBrand Builder

An established health care consulting practice had been in business for several years. As part of its growth and development, it had a logo designed by a veteran graphic artist and developed a tagline (a slogan that appeared below its logo). Earlier this year, as part of its routine... Read More »

The Hard Copier’s Dilemma

July 15, 2009 | A Better Mousetrap

Along London’s celebrated avenue of high-end medical care, Harley Street, it’s not uncommon to see sights that would make any hardened veteran of the US health care system green with envy. Though coverage through the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is provided free to all comers—... Read More »

RBMA Attendees Debate Outsourced Billing

July 15, 2009 | Revenue Track

It is a question often pondered by practice managers and others overseeing the financial aspects of an imaging enterprise: What guidelines or benchmarks do I use to determine whether to retain my in-house billing department or outsource billing? At a June 9 session at the RBMA conference in Orlando, Florida,... Read More »

Emergence of Consumerism in Imaging

July 01, 2009 | Feature

Hurried along by economic hard times, consumerism is making an impact on diagnostic imaging choices, and savvy practices are responding

As Bob Dylan once sang, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” Neither does it take an expert to see that... Read More »