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 »

EMI: The Last Cost-Cutting Frontier

June 12, 2007 | Legislative Report

The changing outpatient imaging business environment has made it imperative for all radiology managers to continually reduce operating expenses. Reimbursements are being squeezed by the recent Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) cuts and the multi-body part discount. The recently published Moran report, sponsored by the Access to Medical Imaging Coalition ... Read More »

RBM Standards: Too Much of a Good Thing?

June 12, 2007 | Legislative Report

Most providers of quality diagnostic imaging welcome more stringent quality standards invoked by payors in the belief that higher standards will eliminate inferior providers from their markets. But as payors increasingly resort to employing radiology benefits management companies (RBMs) to help control escalating imaging costs, outpatient-imaging providers are encountering... Read More »

Think Tank :  Is it Time for the Radiology (R) RVU in Medical Imaging Reimbursement?

June 12, 2007 | Think Tank

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have both stated the important goals of maintaining access for Medicare beneficiaries, reducing cost, and improving quality as we move forward into the pay-for-performance future. The payment systems used to fund Medicare’s services should... 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 »

Brent James, MD, at the RSNA:  What Will We Do Before the Bill Comes Due?

May 15, 2007 | Utilization Metrics

Emerging from the two addresses delivered by noted health informaticist Brent James, MD, at the last meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), attendees could not help but ask the above question. If ever there was a case for managing the utilization of care, that time is... Read More »

Amended Complaint Filed in Illinois Lease Case: Referring Physicians Still AWOL

May 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

An amended complaint filed by the Illinois Attorney General in the per-click leasing complaint, initially filed by a whistleblower last year, parsed out a few more legal entities that operated the 19 named imaging centers, but failed to name any of the referring physicians in the complaint.

“One... Read More »

Street Scan: Forecast Cloudy, Destination Unknown

April 15, 2007 | NONE

Two major imaging center organizations released their annual 10-K reports last month, providing the first official projections of the impact of the DRA on corporate imaging center companies. Not surprisingly, the DRA figured prominently in the risk factors section for both MQ Associates, Alpharetta, Ga, which owns MedQuest, and... Read More »

Legislative Report: A Fast Start

April 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

This year already has proven to be a busy one for legislative activity in radiology. The heightened level of interest has to do with several key factors. With the presidential election approaching in 2008, health care and its funding will continue to be a hot topic for debate; and as... Read More »

Doc Pay on the Docket

April 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

Will Congress replace the sustainable growth rate (SGR) factor with an alternative spending target? Or will it scrap the whole system, including the resource-based relative-value scale (RBRVS) on which the Physician Fee Schedule is based?

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) just released the report that Congress... Read More »

The Year of Utilization Management?

February 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

While Congress hacks away at imaging reimbursement, radiology benefits management companies are chipping away at volume, and outpatient imaging is likely to feel the brunt of these efforts. An article in Managed Care Week reports Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina will begin requiring prior approval for... 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 »

Strategic Partnerships for 2007

January 15, 2007 | NONE

Drastic reimbursement reductions for MR and CT in the freestanding setting have made joint ventures with referring physicians more attractive than ever, writes Jerry J. Sokol, JD, and Joshua M. Kaye, JD, health care attorneys with McDermott Will & Emery, in an article in the January issue of Imaging... 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 »

Latest IMV CT Census Shows the Rapid Evolution of CT Technology

December 15, 2006 | NONE

(Des Plaines, IL – November 6, 2006) – According to IMV Medical Information Division’s recent census of CT sites in the U.S., an estimated 62.0 million procedures were performed in 7,650 hospital and non-hospital sites in 2006. This represents a 24% increased from 50.1 million procedures in 2003, for an average annualized rate of 8% per year over... Read More »

Be Mindful of Stark in CCTA Alliances

October 15, 2006 | NONE

Numerous radiology groups are currently discussing arrangements whereby cardiologists and the radiologists would essentially split the responsibilities for reading coronary CT angiography (“CCTA”) studies. Most commonly, as proposed, the cardiologists would read and generate a signed interpretation report, but limited to the cardiac portion of the CCTA scan. The... 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 »

Practice Expense Changes Could Mean Trouble

July 15, 2006 | Utilization Metrics

As if the health care reimbursement picture for 2007 was not complex enough with the present and upcoming Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) changes for diagnostic imaging, on June 29 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that will, according to CMS, create... 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 »