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Why
What
You Do Matters
By Curtis Kauffman-Pickelle |
Curtis
Kauffman-Pickelle |
New
Gingrich understands the true issue facing imaging today.
In fact, after hearing him speak recently about why
diagnostic imaging got “mugged” by the DRA,
I am convinced more than ever that our profession’s
leadership needs focus, new ideas, and momentum. It
is a theme that I have written and spoken about at length.
An example: After years of trying to get traction in
Washington, DC, with a message about quality, or self
referral, or the negative impact on the profession from
reimbursement cuts, the former House Speaker’s
analysis of imaging’s muddled message was clear
and succinct. Congress and CMS, according to Gingrich,
“don’t know why what you do matters.”
We have not told our story effectively enough about
the offsetting cost savings that diagnostic imaging
brings to the health care equation. “What you
need to do,” he said, “is explain clearly
and uniformly (there’s the rub) why what you
do matters.”
>>
click here to read more >> |
| Legislative
Report:
Do Proposed MPFS Changes
Portend the Demise of Block Leases?
By
Thomas E. Bartrum, JD |
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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 of CMS’ proposed changes to the Medicare
Physician Fee Schedule for Fiscal Year 2008. If
the proposed changes are enacted as part of the final
2008 Payment Update, which will be released later this
fall, the changes may very well mark the beginning of
the end of the block-leasing arrangements.
Specifically, CMS proposes making two (2) changes (among
many) that could potentially impact the continued viability
of block leasing arrangements both from an economic
and legal perspective:
>>
click here to read more >> |
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Nighthawk
Swoops, Buys
St. Paul Radiology Business Services |
Many
large practices have seen the benefit of spinning off
a business services unit, but not many, we suspect,
would anticipate a valuation of $62.5 million. That
is what St Paul Radiology realized in the recent sale
of its business services unit to NightHawk Radiology
Services, Coeur D’Alene. In exchange, NightHawk
gets more than a major client for its Talon workflow
application and new business services division. It acquires
a full suite of business services for cross-selling
to its 700 customers, 100 experienced employees, and,
now that it has billing capability, easy entrée
into the business of final reads.
“We
look at this as continuing to the lead the professional
transformation of the practice of radiology.”
—
Paul Berger, MD, NightHawk Radiology, CEO
“From
a financial perspective, it is very attractive, but
this is also an opportunity to offer these services
to a customer base that is 700 and growing,” said
Paul Berger, MD, NightHawk CEO, in an investor’s
conference call on July 17. “We are hearing from
our existing customers that this is something they would
like us to do.”
>>
click here to read more >> |
MRI
Accreditation Checklist:
Prepare
for Success
By
Robert A. Bell, PhD
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United
Healthcare’s decision to require MRI accreditation
after March 1, 2008, initiated a trend among payers
that is likely to gain steam. It has also sent hospitals
and freestanding imaging centers scrambling to secure
MRI accreditation from the American College of Radiology,
which has accredited over to 5,000 MRI units since beginning
its MRI program in 1996.
The accreditation process is no cause for panic. A majority
of applicants passed on their first attempt, and most
of those that did not went on to attain accreditation.
So the odds of undergoing a successful accreditation
are in your favor. But before initiating the accreditation
process, it is important to designate a champion who
will accept responsibility for this task and then to
give that person the time and support to accomplish
it. The following guidelines will help ensure success.ng
they would like us to do.”
>>
click here to read more >>
sponsored
by
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Hospitals
to Emerge as Key Player in
Outpatient
Imaging
This
is the first of three articles based on a presentation
by Michael Silver, PhD, vice president, Sg2, Skokie, Ill,
at the 2nd Annual GE Healthcare Outpatient Imaging Center
Conference, July 26-27, Crystal City, Va.
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Michael
Silver, PhD |
In
a wide-ranging, in-depth analysis of the present and
future outpatient imaging center market, Michael Silver,
PhD, vice president, Sg2, Skokie, Ill, advised attendees
at the 2nd Annual GE Healthcare Outpatient Imaging Center
Conference in Washington to raise their business acumen
to compete in a rapidly evolving marketplace.
“It is often said that imaging is experiencing
a market correction, and it is probably appropriate
to say that it is a very profound market correction
that is taking place right now,” Silver noted.
“Imaging is moving fairly rapidly from a growth
industry to a mature industry, and that mean the business
execution skills of your imaging center become far more
critical than they were in the past.”
New players will help reshape the terrain, with novel,
consumer-oriented models and an increased hospital presence,
he predicted. “The hospital presence in your market
is going to become more of an issue for you than it
has been in the past,” Silver said.
>>
click here to read more >> |
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|
No.
4 in a series
Joe A. Paul and Paul N. Cote: The
Pair Behind Cypress Partners, LLC |
| 
Joe
A. Paul
Paul
N. Cote |
The
story of the 14-center imaging chain called Cypress
Partners, LLC, is a tale of two partners
who honed their skills as hired guns at corporate entities
operating in the diagnostic imaging space before becoming
masters of their realm with their own imaging center
company. Joe A. Paul, CPA, was president and CEO of
US Diagnostic, Inc. Paul N. Cote spent eight years as
a regional manager for DVI Financial Services, reviewing
business plans for many startups in the outpatient imaging
field. When they co-founded Cypress Partners, LLC, neither
man wanted to move, ergo two home offices in Jupiter,
Fla, and Atlanta, Ga. ImagingBiz.com caught
up with Paul, president and founder, and Cote, founding
partner, by telephone to discuss their strategy and
unique management style.s developed over the past five
years?
>>
click here to read more >> |
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Minnesota
Docs, Hospitals Cut Deal to
Self-Manage Imaging Utilization |
| 
Jim
Tierney
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All
eyes are on the North Star state, as Minnesota physicians
and hospitals embark on an ambitious program to self-manage
their utilization of diagnostic imaging. Three major
health plans, four large integrated delivery systems,
and two leading Minneapolis-based radiology groups are
participating, according to Jim Tierney, CEO, Suburban
Radiologic Consultants, a 65-person radiology practice
based in Bloomington, MN.
The participating payers — Medica, HealthPartners,
and BCBS of Minnesota — require care providers
to purchase or develop software that enables the referring
physician to go through an automated decision-support
process at the time of examination, eliminating the
need for pre-certification calls. While radiology benefits
management (RBMs) firms continue to be involved in managing
the data produced by the utilization management program,
their role has been greatly diminished.
>>
click here to read more >> |
| 
ARA
Floats an Automated
Billing Process… And
Inhales |
| 
Laura
Casey
R.
Todd Thomas |
The
65-radiologist Austin Radiological Association is well
known for its robust information technology deployment
throughout central Texas. Nonetheless, the practice’s
billing department, which billed close to a million
procedures last year, was awash in the same paper that
plagues smaller, less sophisticated practices. Enter
Laura Casey, business office director, who partnered
with CIO R. Todd Thomas, and a team that included representatives
from both departments, to design and write software
architecture for an automated billing process that eliminated
processing paper.
Using
an HL-7 interface engine, a document scanning application
that can retrieve text from a document and export that
data into a database, and an in-house software engineer,
Casey, Thomas, and team devised the new process over
a period of a year. And after an initial two-month testing
period, the results are very promising. Review of the
initial automated charge transactions indicates the
practice is within one percentage point of the previous
year’s collection rate, claims and patient statements
are accurate, and the billing staff has been reduced
by 75%.
>>
click here to read more >> |
| The
Organization:
Assess Management of
Your Outpatient Center
By
Pamela Harlem, MBA |
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In
these Days of the DRA, imaging centers are keen to be
lean. The question is, do you have your bases covered?
In addition to strategies for cost savings and revenue
enhancement, an imaging center with a need or desire
to improve performance should review its organizational
structure. Each position and person in the entity has
roles and responsibilities. The question to address
today is: How do I approach understanding and aligning
my organizational structure with my goals for growth?
>>
click here to read more >> |
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Transparent
Goals
Rational Pricing Will Help Hospitals Continue to Build
Trust in Their Communities
By
Richard Clarke |
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The
drumbeat for rational hospital pricing is not going
away; it’s getting
louder.
Witness, for example, the recent study From “Soak
the Rich” to “Soak the Poor”: Recent
Trends in Hospital Pricing by Gerard Anderson, a health
economist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health, published in the May-June issue of Health Affairs.
Using 2004 data, the study found that the prices hospitals
charged self-pay patients were two to three times more
than what hospitals charged commercial payers and Medicare.
The report further noted that this gap had grown significantly
since the mid-’80s. The mainstream press quickly
picked up on the study, reinforcing the notion that
the uninsured billing issue is far from being resolved
in the public’s mind.
>>
click here to read more >> |
Join
a dynamic, thriving company!
Largest private radiology group practice in Connecticut
... and growing. A leader in high quality, state-of-the-art
medical imaging.
Seeking
Full-Time Director of Marketing and Business Development
to develop strategic planning for marketing, sales,
revenue sources, services and referral relations management.
Direct external marketing efforts to expand and strengthen
referral base.Requires Bachelor’s degree in Business
Administration, Marketing, PR, or related field, 5+
years of successful management experience in PR, Sales,
or Marketing, and 5+ years experience in a healthcare
field, preferably from the provider side. Must have
strong leadership and employee management expertise.
To
apply, please send resume, letter of interest, and salary
requirements to HR@jeffersonradiology.com
or fax to (860)291-6594. |
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Get
Ready, Get Set, Get Paid: ACR PQRI Guidance
Beginning
in July, CMS rolled out radiology’s first
two quality improvement measures. Measure 10
will calculate the percentage of final reports
for CT and MRI studies of the brain performed
within 24 hours of arrival to the hospital with
diagnosis of ischemic stroke, TIA, or intracranial
hemorrhage that include documentation of each
of the following: hemorrhage, mass lesion, and
acute infarction. Measure 11 will calculate
the percentage of final reports for carotid
imaging studies (neck MRA, neck CTA, neck duplex
ultrasound, carotid angiogram) performed for
patients aged 18 years and older, with the diagnosis
of ischemic stroke or TIA that include direct
or indirect reference to measurements of distal
internal carotid diameter as the denominator
for stenosis measurement. Guidance can be found
on the ACR web site.
>>
click here to read more >>
SCHIP
Wrecked?
After
CMS elected to hold the line at 50% on the equipment
usage calculation in the proposed 2008 MPFS,
a bill that would reauthorize SCHIP (HR 1362)
emerged from the House, with a section (Sec
309) devoted to imaging, including a proposal
to increase the equipment usage rate to 75%,
requirements for facility accreditation, and
an end to global billing for IDTFs. The Senate
also passed a SCHIP reauthorization bill sans
imaging provisions. The bills have gone to committee
for reconciliation, and the President has reiterated
his intention to veto any SCHIP reauthorization.
>>
click here to read the house bill >> |
 |
Behind
the Numbers: Health Trends for 2008
Price
WaterhouseCoopers has published its annual “Behind
the Numbers, Healthcare Cost Trends for 2008,”
noting a decelerating trend in the increasing
cost of health care, and predicting a 9.9% increase
in PPOs, HMOs, POSs, and EPOs and a 7.4% increase
in consumer-directed plans. This compares to
estimated increases of 11.9%, 11.8% and 10.7%
respectively for the prior year. Slower spending
growth for prescription drugs, increase transparency
and cost sharing by employees, total health
management approach to benefits, and the broadening
digital backbone in health care were cited as
factors.
>>
click here for pdf >>
Government
or Consumer-Driven Health Care?
Author,
teacher, and provocateur Regina Herzlinger,
PhD, builds a case for a consumer-driven health
care system rather than the single-payer government
plan that appears to be gaining currency in
the United States, in an interview published
online by Health Affairs.
>>
click here to read more >>
2008
Proposed MPFS Tightens Noose on Self-Referral
CMS
appears to be tightening the very Stark loopholes
that have enabled referring physicians to profit
by self-referring imaging studies. The rule
proposes to crack down on “per-click”
lease arrangements, prohibit "under arrangements"
agreements between physicians and hospitals,
and invoke the anti-markup provision for diagnostic
tests.
>>
related reading >>
The
CBO, the MPFS and Other Fairy Tales
Reed
Smith LLP Commentary (pdf)
Publix’
Latest Loss Leader: Free Antibiotics
Publix
Super Markets, Lakeland, Fla, began offering
free, 14-day supplies of seven generic antibiotic
drugs at its 684 stores in Florida, Georgia,
South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee. Consumers
must have a valid prescription, but there is
not limit on the quantity of prescriptions consumers
can fill.
>>
click here to read more >> |
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McKesson
Buys Awarix |
McKesson
Corp, San Francisco, bought Awarix, Birmingham,
Al, a privately held manufacturer of electronic
patient care management system for hospitals.
The color-coded system displays such information
as patient locations, discharge status, and
room availability on large whiteboards, enabling
the efficient management of patients.
>>
click to read more >>
| 
Medtronic
Acquires Biophan’s MRI Safety Portfolio |
Medtronic,
Minneapolis, has agreed to acquire the MRI safety
patent portfolio from Biophan Technologies,
Pittsford, NY, for $11 million in cash. The
portfolio included such technologies as pacemakers
that are safe for use with MRI. Biophan will
continue its research and development in the
field, including efforts to enable the visualization
of clotting and restenosis in stents under MRI.
>>
click to read more >>
Siemens
Debuts New VC Software
|
Siemens
Medical Solutions, Malvern, Pa, has introduced
Syngo Colonography PEV, a new version of its
automated reading software for virtual colonoscopy.
Acting as second reader, the computer-assisted
reading software focuses on finding polyps in
the 6 mm to 25 mm range. The software automatically
processes data from a Siemens CT scanner so
that the studies are pre-marked when a radiologist
begins to read.
>>
click to read more >> |
September
2007
Fall Educational Conference
Sponsored by the Radiology
Business Management Association
September 16-18, 2007
Nashville Convention Center, Nashville, Tenn
The RBMA educational conference
is a twice-yearly event featuring topics on
the business aspects of radiology.
register: (800) 327-6618
Diagnostic
Imaging Leadership Forum: Executive Strategies
for Expanding Your Business
Sponsored by G2 Reports
September 17-19,,
2007
Westin, Arlington, Va
Conference will focus
on industry hot topics in regulatory, reimbursement,
managed care, financing, informatics, marketing,
molecular imaging, cardiovascular imaging, and
joint venture opportunities.
>>
click to register >>
October
Revenue
Cycle Strategies Conference
Sponsored by Healthcare
Financial Management Association
October 8-10, 2007
San Francisco, CA
Conference will focus
on leading change throughout the revenue cycle;
implementing technology, best practices, and
strategic initiatives to manage consumerism;
create transparent, patient-centric pricing;
recreate existing processes to improve net revenues;
and prepare for pending billing and collections
regulations.
>> more information >>
November
Strategies
for Professional and Financial Success: From
Training to Retirement
Sponsored by the American
College of Radiology
November 3-4, 2007
Phoenix, AZ
Frank J. Lexa, MD, MBA,
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
conducts the two-day seminar, now in its third
year.
>> more information >>
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