MU2: Value Proposition for Radiology

April 27, 2012 | Priors

On March 7, 2012, the proposed rule¹ governing stage 2 of the CMS incentive program for electronic health records (EHRs) and the 2014 EHR certification criteria² were published to generally favorable reviews from organized radiology. Mike Peters, director of legislative and regulatory affairs for the ACR®, explains why the ACR has... Read More »

UC Davis Medical Center Embarks on Journey to Reduce Dose by 20%

October 21, 2011 | NONE

Dose management (including dose-reduction strategies) is a dominant topic of conversation throughout the imaging world. Cross-disciplinary efforts to resolve the issue are moving to the forefront of both vendor and provider dockets, spurred on not least by quality metrics that tie reimbursement rates to patient outcomes.

At... Read More »

California Dose Legislation: National Implications

November 15, 2010 | Legislative Report

Arnold Schwarzenegger, California’s governor, signed a new radiation patient protection law in October 2010 that mandates strict procedures and reporting requirements for CT scanners and radiation-therapy procedures, as well as the... Read More »

Radiology Lobby: Advocacy for High Stakes on Capitol Hill

September 15, 2010 | Legislative Report

Not every lobbying effort on the part of the imaging industry is a success. When the DRA was passed, for example, radiology took a hit; reimbursements were pared, and the industry emerged feeling that its rapid growth had left it with a target on its back.

Cindy... Read More »

The SGR Fix Passes With a 2.2% Update

July 14, 2010 | Legislative Report

The familiar, contentious debate surrounding Medicare’s sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula came to a temporary close on June 24, when the House of Representatives, by passing HR 3962, finally agreed to a Senate plan to put off a 21.3% decrease in payment rates. The payment fix is only effective through November 30,... Read More »

A Call to Action

December 01, 2009 | The Bottom Line

Any reader of Radiology Business Journal knows that the complexity and intensity of managing a radiology practice are increasing exponentially. Likewise, we face myriad external factors from Washington that change almost daily and that are, seemingly, out of our control: health reform, the Physician Practice Information Survey, cuts due... Read More »

Regulatory Report: Gains Made in Campaign to Limit Self-referral

November 16, 2008 | Regulatory Report

Organized radiology has been devoted to the self-referral issue for more than a decade. Early literature that documented increased physician referral rates for diagnostic imaging when there is a financial incentive led to the Stark laws in the 1990s. Entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and some medical specialties, however, have exploited... Read More »

Time to Unwind, and Other Effects of the 2009 MPFS

November 15, 2008 | Think Tank

Few federal rules for billing and leasing of diagnostic testing equipment and technicians by mobile testing companies will require the restructuring or unwinding of many imaging arrangements prior to the end of 2008. In its payment policies under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) for calendar year (CY) 2009, published November 19, 2008¹,... Read More »

Contest of the Implausibles

September 01, 2008 | Newsmakers

In an often-hilarious talk at the Beyond Conference in Washington, DC, on July 24, 2008, political observer and noted handicapper Charlie Cook gave the audience an insider’s view of the 2008 campaign for the presidency, complete with personal anecdotes, acerbic observations, and his own picks for vice-presidential candidates. “If the last... Read More »

Caution Ahead: Keep Your Eyes on the Road

January 15, 2008 | Legislative Report

While driving a car, if you constantly look in the rearview mirror, it exponentially increases your chances of getting into a wreck.

The imaging industry was able to beat back more than a billion dollars’ worth of cuts in Medicare in a bill that President Bush signed... Read More »

Washington’s Low-Hanging Fruit:  Diagnostic Imaging

December 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

In the world of Washington politics, health care and health care policy are high stakes and high profile. With today’s skyrocketing federal budget, and burgeoning deficit, the President and Congress are looking for savings.

Health care spending is considered a target-rich environment inside the Beltway. As... Read More »

Letter-Trafficking and Self-Referral in Massachusetts

September 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

As in many states, Massachusetts policy makers are examining the impact that ambulatory surgical centers and medical diagnostic imaging services, particularly physician owned, are having on the health care delivery system. Last year, the Massachusetts Legislature created a special study commission to examine these health services and their impact... Read More »

Do Proposed MPFS Changes Portend the Demise of Block Leases?

August 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

Although block-leasing arrangements have become increasingly marginalized given recent Board of Medical Examiner decisions and a spate of high profile whistleblower cases, such arrangements clearly remain a target for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The latest volley in this war of attrition came in the guise... Read More »

Legislative Report: Maryland Radiologists Defends State’s Anti-Self Referral Law

June 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

In 1993, the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation to prohibit self-referrals by physicians for three types of imaging services to patients. They were MRI, CT, and radiation oncology. The legislation was introduced on behalf of the Maryland Hospital Association, at that time concerned about the outside influence of physician- and... Read More »

Legislative Report: CMS Transmittal Rocks IDTF World

June 12, 2007 | Legislative Report

Just as imaging center operators thought they had a handle on the inhospitable reimbursment and regulatory environment for 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a last-minute transmittal on January 26 that added significant changes to the 14 new compliance standards independent diagnostic testing facilities (IDTFs) must meet in... Read More »

NCQDIS: Now More than Ever

June 12, 2007 | Legislative Report

Those of us in the industry recognize that imaging is a fast-growing alternative to invasive procedures. New technology, an aging population, and declining costs of equipment are leading to more imaging procedures being performed each year.

Unfortunately, private and public payors have a tendency to react to... Read More »

Legislative Watch: AMIC Perseveres in Battling Imaging Cuts

May 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC) was organized in early 2006, soon after Congress passed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 which significantly reduced the level of funding for medical imaging services provided in independent imaging facilities and physician offices. AMIC represents more than 75,000 physicians and medical providers, as well as... Read More »

Washington Report: Health Care Back on the Table

January 15, 2007 | NONE

As the new Congress begins a shift toward a more domestic policy-dominated agenda, health care issues are expected to receive substantial attention. While there was hope during the last quarter of 2006 that a bill proposed in the House (HR 5704) as well as one proposed in the Senate (S. 3795) would... Read More »

Washington Update: Physicians, 1, Imaging Centers, 0

December 15, 2006 | NONE

Physicians received yet another reprieve when the Senate’s final act before adjourning was to pass a broad tax and trade bill, 79-to-9, that contained the hope-for fix of the scheduled 5.1 percent cut in physician reimbursement.

However, the Access for Medical Imaging Coalition failed to obtain a... Read More »

Is Time Running Out?

August 15, 2006 | NONE

In a typical year, more than 10,000 bills and resolutions are introduced in Congress and fewer than 5% of these actually become law. So while radiology advocates celebrated another victory in August — a Senate bill to reverse cuts to Medicare payments for radiology — these long odds were definitely in the back... Read More »

Imaging’s Long Hot Summer Begins…

June 12, 2006 | The Big Picture

There are impressive signs that outpatient imaging is beginning to coalesce in a real sense, moving from its initial stunned reaction to the DRA to a planned and coordinated sense of urgency that is reflective of a grown-up industry. Within the span of a recent one week period, the... Read More »

Buying Time: Chances for DRA Reversal Grow Slim, but Moratorium Might Fly

June 12, 2006 | Legislative Report

Those hoping for a repeal of cuts to diagnostic imaging contained in the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) may have to drastically lower their expectations for 2006 was the word coming out of both the American College of Radiology (ACR) Annual Meeting and Chapter Leadership Conference and the National Coalition for... Read More »

Lobbying Against DRA Scores Victories but Battle is Far From Over

May 15, 2006 | Legislative Report

Grassroots lobbying can at times seem more frustrating than helpful. Tremendous effort is invested in contacting legislators via e-mail, fax, phone, and in-person visits and often nothing seems to happen. But when it works, it can create successes that millions of dollars for professional lobbying could not match.

States Pick Up Anti-Self Referral Cause

April 15, 2006 | Legislative Report

Is anti-self referral legislation too controversial for 2006? Representatives of the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the National Coalition for Quality Diagnostic Imaging Services (NCQDIS) have set their lobbying priorities for this year and at the top of the agenda is reversing the cuts in the Deficit Reduction Act... Read More »

Organized Radiology Plots Washington Course

March 15, 2006 | Legislative Report

The diagnostic imaging industry’s lobbying priority for 2006 is clear, say representative of industry associations and imaging center owners: Stop the Medicare reimbursement cuts for imaging procedures included in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 from going into effect. But how? Now there’s the rub.

To have... Read More »