Atlas Scanned

March 15, 2009 | The Big Picture

In trying to understand the current shift in economic and political winds, I thought it would be helpful to take a new look at a classic depiction of the US capitalist system, as portrayed in one of American fiction’s great works. In Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, protagonist... Read More »

The Push for Productivity

December 01, 2008 | Feature

In an era of declining reimbursement for radiology, one practice is testing the limits of IT’s ability to improve productivity

In retrospect, 10 years ago, it took us many months to accomplish our first DICOM modality integration of a RIS and a CT scanner at Inland Imaging,... Read More »

Packaging Versus Bundling: Let the Battle Begin

November 16, 2008 | Revenue Track

There are very important differences between packaged services and bundled services. Unfortunately, many people use these terms interchangeably, which may result in incorrect coding practices (and, potentially, in lost revenue for the organization).

Packaging is a reimbursement term. It refers to the practice of making a single... Read More »

NightHawk Offers Model for QA

September 15, 2008 | Quality

It’s easy to let quality assurance (QA) slip into a lip-service category, but that is something that a nighttime stat-reading teleradiology service can’t afford to do—particularly if it is an industry leader like NightHawk Radiology Services. Dionne Watts, quality-assurance supervisor, says “QA for teleradiology is important... Read More »

What is Quality Radiology?

September 01, 2008 | Feature

The 1999 Institute of Medicine report To Err Is Human¹ brought the extent and severity of medical errors to the attention of policymakers, hospital administrative staff, and health care providers. This landmark analysis sparked a broad change in the perception of how health care should be rendered to patients,... Read More »

Surveying Referrers Provides Valuable Guidance

August 15, 2008 | RadBrand Builder

During a client consultation via conference call last month, I was asked what other radiology practices are doing to deliver reports. “What they are doing is less important than providing what your referrers want,” I replied. “How do we find out?” asked the practice representative. “Ask them,” I said.<... Read More »

Transforming the PACS Vendor Relationship

July 15, 2008 | Radinformatics

Radiologists at Yale University figuratively equate their PACS with a toolbox and themselves with artisans, from whose hands now spring forth remarkably useful pictures: namely, manipulated and reconstructed digital images of what lies beneath the epidermis.

Over time, the PACS acquired by Yale in 2003 required, in the... Read More »

Eight Ways to Motivate Your Practice Representatives

July 15, 2008 | RadBrand Builder

The proper care (and feeding) of your practice representatives is a process, not an event. Because there is so much at stake, it requires a level of communication that is unprecedented in your business. Imagine, for a moment, that you get up to go to work; when you arrive... Read More »

Quality in Radiology: Science or Science Fiction?

June 15, 2008 | Adview

In times of turmoil, I have always turned to science fiction. Hard science is, well, too hard for this intellect, and science fiction offers refuge when the world around is, as Wordsworth said, too much with us.

I nearly missed a flight back to Los Angeles recently... Read More »

What Radiology Can Do to Improve Its Health

June 15, 2008 | The Bottom Line

Everywhere one looks, these days, there is uncertainty about the future of radiology. Radiology technical and professional reimbursement is down, with further Medicare and private-payor cuts almost always on the horizon. Profit margins in imaging centers are down as a result of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, and professional... Read More »

Creating a Blog That No One Will Read

June 12, 2008 | RadBrand Builder

A couple of years ago, the CEO of a $100-million company was presiding over a conference call with about 16 senior members of several divisions of the company. The CEO mentioned something that he had written on his blog in order to start a discussion of the topic. What he... Read More »

Issue Tracking for Image Quality Improvement

February 16, 2008 | Dashboard Confessions

Paul Nagy, PhD, is director of quality and informatics research and associate professor of radiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore. On November 27, 2007, he presented Developing the Infrastructure (Quality Control in Radiology) at the annual RSNA meeting in Chicago, with the stated goal of helping his... Read More »

Improving Gadolinium-based Contrast Safety

February 15, 2008 | Radiology Business Journal

It is clear that gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCA) for MRI improve detection (sensitivity), characterization (specificity), disease staging, and diagnostic confidence levels. It has also become clear that nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) is associated with their use in patients with preexisting kidney disease. For radiology, the challenge is to minimize... Read More »

The Flat World Imperative

February 13, 2008 | Legislative Report

In a world where a radiologist in Bombay can interpret an x-ray from Buffalo, the Mayo Clinic’s Stephen Swensen, MD, maintains that quality is the only way to distinguish a radiology service. In the February issue of Imaging Economics, Swensen makes the business case for quality and describes... Read More »

SIIM 2007 Report

June 12, 2007 | Legislative Report

The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM, formerly SCAR) met last week in Providence, Rhode Island. Some of the hot topics included the following:

Information Sharing Among Enterprises

A notable focus at SIIM was the need for enterprises to share information outside their own... Read More »

Radiation Dosage Monitoring in CT

May 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

Was it just a few years ago that potential to reduce exposure was one of the benefits touted for adoption of multi-slice CT?  Then, in 2001, the FDA issued a Public Health Notification to emphasize the importance of keeping radiation doses during CT procedures as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA). ... Read More »

Gadolinium and You: Why Imaging Centers Should Be Concerned

May 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

The connection between gadolinium and the disease known as nephrogenic fibrosis syndrome (NFS) presents an urgent and immediate reason for imaging centers to amend MR policies, procedures, and protocols.

A flurry of advisories from the FDA, the ACR’s Document for Safe MR Practices: 2007, reports in the... Read More »

Dose Awareness Movement Gains Steam

May 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

Efforts to raise awareness of radiation dose in medical imaging saw significant activity on three fronts this past month, suggesting that radiology may be mobilizing to raise awareness of the issue. The National Council on Radiation Protection & Measurements (NCRP) released preliminary results of a new study showing a... Read More »

The Case for Emergency Responder Magnet Safety, Part I

November 15, 2006 | NONE

You run a sound MRI operation with employees well trained in magnet safety, but have you ever thought about the scene following a fire alarm being pulled? Imagine several imposing, fully geared firefighters bursting through the door unabated, wielding axes, and completely unaware of the invisible danger generated by... Read More »