Preventing a MAC Attack: The Importance of Radiology Charge-capture Audits
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.
Medical Imaging Review, January 26, 2010Engaging Physicians in Hospital Radiology Quality Initiatives
The question of how to engage physicians in hospital quality initiatives “is one that many organizations are grappling with,” according to Albert Bothe, MD, chief quality officer for Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania.
Medical Imaging Review, January 26, 2010Radiology Billing, CSI: Managing Individual Payor Contracts
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.
Medical Imaging Review, January 26, 2010Stroke: Managing Emergency Beds for Overall Financial Health
Each year, nearly 800,000 people in the United States suffer strokes, making cerebrovascular disease the nation’s third leading cause of death (behind heart disease and cancer).
Medical Imaging Review, January 25, 2010The Quest for Quality in Radiology
With Quality Counts as its theme for 2009, the RSNA’s 95th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, obviously emphasized multiple aspects of quality assurance, control, and improvement.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, January 18, 2010Preparing for Potential Reform: The Hospital View
Some proponents of national health care reform expect to pop the champagne corks any day now in celebration of getting a bill through Congress.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, January 18, 2010Key Metrics for 2010: A Conversation With Marcia Flaherty, CEO, Riverside Radiology
At RSNA 2009, analysis of key metrics was emphasized as a means for radiology practices to improve operations, augment quality, and reduce costs.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, January 18, 2010CT Radiation Dose on the Table
Long a point of concern in Europe, radiation dose has emerged as a key point of consideration for pediatric radiologists in the United States, particularly with the development of multidetector CT.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, January 18, 2010Strategies for Accommodating Self-pay Patients
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.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, January 18, 2010A Time for Introspection
The question that I am most often asked is why I remain so confident and bullish about radiology’s future, given all of the bad news that continues to drain our collective will.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, January 18, 2010Marooned on Level 3: Leverage IT to Improve Reporting
In a December 2 session at RSNA 2009 in Chicago, Illinois, on using next-generation health care IT to improve radiology, David Avrin, MD, PhD, radiologist at the University of California–San Francisco Medical Center, opened with a comment made to him by one of his hospital administrators
Radinformatics, January 10, 2010Informatics: Linchpin of Personalized Medicine
In urging radiologists to adopt a new focus on quality improvement, RSNA outgoing president Gary Becker, MD, outlines the steps necessary to achieve this goal and calls informatics integral to the process.
Radinformatics, January 10, 2010Using Next-generation IT Tools to Improve Appropriateness
It might well have been the unofficial theme of RSNA 2009 in Chicago, Illinois: “You can’t change what you can’t measure.”
Radinformatics, January 10, 2010Federated-model HIE Connects 16 Unaffiliated Hospitals
When the 16 hospitals of the Western North Carolina Health Network (WNCHN) sat down to create a federated model for a health information exchange (HIE) four years ago, they could find no examples of unaffiliated institutions sharing health data, so WNCHN essentially began with a tabula rasa.
Radinformatics, January 10, 2010Catching Up With the Future: The Radiology of Tomorrow
The future is here—it just hasn’t made it to radiology yet.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, December 22, 2009Automating Management of Critical Results
When Jane Wheatley, CEO of Taylor Regional Hospital, Campbellsville, Kentucky, needed to make a decision regarding her facility’s handling of radiology services
ImagingBiz Newsletter, December 22, 2009Jeff Bauer, PhD, on Transforming Health Care
Health care futurist and consultant Jeff Bauer, PhD, coauthor of the book Paradox and Imperatives in Health Care: How Efficiency, Effectiveness, and E-Transformation Can Conquer Waste and Optimize Quality
ImagingBiz Newsletter, December 22, 2009Toward True Globalization: The Air Force and PACS
Sharing images across any health care enterprise represents a challenge, but doing so across the Pacific Rim was the dilemma faced in 2003 by the US Air Force.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, December 22, 2009Asset Management for Imaging Reduces Waste
Scarce capital, these days, poses a serious threat to imaging enterprises hoping to see even modest growth.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, December 22, 2009All Eyes on Accreditation
In July 2008, Congress passed the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA)
ImagingBiz Newsletter, December 21, 2009Leveraging RVU Data to Improve Productivity
Friendly competition has developed among the five radiologists of Capital Imaging Associates, Albany, New York, to the benefit of referrers (and, potentially, to patient care).
ImagingBiz Newsletter, December 21, 2009Too Big to Understand
I just finished reading the new book about last year’s financial near meltdown, Too Big to Fail (Viking, 2009), by Andrew Ross Sorkin.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, December 21, 2009Window on 2010: Impact of Imaging-Specific Health Care Reforms
Since the dawn of the DRA at the close of 2005, health care observers have predicted a follow-on DRA II. It appears that this prediction will come to pass shortly after the clock strikes midnight on December 31.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, December 21, 2009Building Bridges
A strong physician referral base requires meticulous planning and follow-through
Radiology Business Journal, December 01, 2009Now, for Something Completely Different
As I sit here trying to think of a way to wrap up a year of tremendous change in radiology, health care, and the economy at large, I understand that there is no way to turn 2009 into a neat package.
Radiology Business Journal, December 01, 2009Managing the Revenue Cycle
In revenue-cycle management for the practice, imaging center, and radiology department, success is achieved through the relentless and ongoing pursuit of defined metrics, with all hands on deck
Radiology Business Journal, December 01, 2009Malpractice Premiums: MIA in the Health Care Debate
Health reform efforts have developed into a heated and contentious debate.
Radiology Business Journal, December 01, 2009Cost of Care to Elderly Soars
During the decade following 1996, the average annual cost of health care for those 65 and older increased 30%, according to a recent analysis.1
Radiology Business Journal, December 01, 2009Scanning Imaging’s Deals
With no stimulus package in the wings, the future belongs to those leaders in radiology who dare to innovate
Radiology Business Journal, December 01, 2009Good Governance
Today’s successful radiology practice implements effective governance structures and decision-making methods
Radiology Business Journal, December 01, 2009Alternative Imaging Business Structures and Arrangements: What’s Legal?
The changing regulatory landscape for imaging business structures has left considerable uncertainty about which arrangements are acceptable in the eyes of the law
Radiology Business Journal, December 01, 2009JAMA Article Slams Mammography: At What Cost?
When JAMA published an opinion piece1 in October 2009 questioning the effectiveness of mammography screening and calling for new screening protocols to separate life-threatening cancers from less harmful lesions, the mammography community reacted with alarm.
Radiology Business Journal, December 01, 2009A Cure for the Decision-making Disorder
Five centuries ago, the Roman Catholic Church introduced the devil’s advocate for the express purpose of countering arguments in favor of canonization.
Radiology Business Journal, December 01, 2009A Call to Action
Any reader of Radiology Business Journal knows that the complexity and intensity of managing a radiology practice are increasing exponentially.
Radiology Business Journal, December 01, 2009RSNA 2009: A Finger on the Pulse and An Eye to the Future
Attendees at this year’s meeting can look forward to perennial-favorite sessions designed to keep radiologists on the cutting edge of their specialty, as well as some new features added to broaden the gathering’s scope
Radiology Business Journal, December 01, 2009The 50 Largest Radiology Practices
Our second annual survey indicates that the big are getting bigger, the average number of imaging centers owned is trending lower, and nearly all of the nation’s 50 largest private radiology practices are providing some level of teleradiology
Radiology Business Journal, December 01, 2009Grassroots Coalition Puts Collaboration Above Competition
The rival groups had targeted the same pool of patients in their marketing efforts, positioning their respective imaging facilities, in one of the most competitive markets in the country, as the best that the Big Apple had to offer.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, November 18, 2009Evaluating Radiology’s New Revenue Streams
In January 2008, the ACR® appointed a task force to research and report on the efficacy of the increasing number of value-added services in radiology.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, November 18, 2009Quality Control With A Custom Fit
Less than a year ago, the radiology department at the Fletcher Allen Medical Center (FAMC), Burlington, Vermont, the hospital affiliate of the University of Vermont College of Medicine, was struggling with antiquated peer-review and quality-control (QC) methods.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, November 18, 2009Extending Advanced Visualization Across Multiple Departments
Among the virtues of thin-client 3D advanced visualization are ease and economy of deployment across an enterprise.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, November 18, 2009Scanning Imaging’s Deals
Among the more interesting dramas unfolding in the medical imaging profession these days are the number and variety of transactions that are either in the pipeline, in the process of due diligence, or otherwise in some organization’s strategic plan for 2010.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, November 18, 2009ACR Economic Update: What to Expect From CMS in 2010
While health reform is still a legislative preoccupation, where regulatory agencies are concerned, the train has left the station, according to Maurine Spillman-Dennis, MPH, MBA. Spillman-Dennis is a senior director in the economics and health policy division of the ACR®, and she presented an economic update from the college at the RBMA Fall Educational Conference on October 12, 2009, in Phoenix, Arizona.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, November 18, 2009The Mayo Clinic Vision: Radiology’s Role in Care Delivery
Integrated health care delivery systems such as that pioneered by the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, have been heralded for their low-cost, high-quality care and greater efficiency.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, November 18, 2009Software Allows Virtual PET/MRI Fusion
It was a difficult, but not uncommon, neuroradiology case: A patient suffered seizures, but had, a year before, been cleared of the possibility of epilepsy by a radiologist looking at an MRI study of the patient’s brain.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, November 18, 2009The Transformational Effects of Informatics on the Practice of Radiology: A Roundtable Discussion
On October 6, 2009, four physicians gathered in Stamford, Connecticut, to participate in a discussion moderated by Cheryl Proval, Radinformatics.com editorial director.
Radinformatics, November 09, 20092010 Medicare Reimbursement: What’s in It for Radiology?
The nation’s hospitals eluded a $1 billion pay cut on October 1, when the 2010 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) went into effect, because CMS chose not to include a negative 1.9% update for payments to hospitals as originally proposed.
Medical Imaging Review, October 27, 2009Precertification for Advanced Imaging Takes a Toll
Growth in outpatient advanced imaging has declined significantly from its peak in 2004. At that time, outpatient CT and MRI exam volumes were growing at approximately 10% each per year. From 2009 to 2013, however, imaging experts at The Advisory Board Co, Washington, DC, estimate that growth for these modalities will slow to approximately 5% annually. While still positive, this slowdown in growth means that there is less incremental volume to go around in a very crowded marketplace.
Medical Imaging Review, October 27, 2009Grand Junction: Radiology and the IDN
A recent New Yorker article¹ shone a harsh light on the city of McAllen, Texas, where Medicare data suggest that health care costs are nearly twice as high as the national average. Garnering less attention was the example that the author (surgeon Atul Gawande, MD, MPH) gave of a community where health care delivery functions efficiently and effectively—Grand Junction, Colorado. Grand Junction has some of the highest Medicare quality scores in the country, yet costs per enrollee remain low—30% below the national average, in fact.
Medical Imaging Review, October 27, 2009Stark Implications: Trends in Imaging JVs and Arrangements
A convergence of factors shaping the current health care environment—including some key regulatory changes—has caused many health systems to reevaluate their broad array of physician relationships in an effort to determine the optimal hospital–physician alignment strategy. This is particularly true of medical imaging arrangements, as hospitals struggle to recapture a profit center that continues to shift away from the hospital setting.
Medical Imaging Review, October 27, 2009Why Design Matters in Imaging
It’s design that can make patients choose one imaging provider over another, according to Morris A. Stein, FAIA, FACHA.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, October 14, 2009Of Competitors and Superheroes
An eerie presence had descended on Gotham, and ordinary imaging providers in and around New York were worried.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, October 14, 2009Cracking the Code for Improving Quality
As the entire health care continuum comes under increased scrutiny in terms of both cost and effectiveness, radiologists and administrators alike have fresh cause to contemplate quality in the delivery of imaging services.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, October 14, 2009Sunshine Bill Renews Focus on Conflicts of Interest
While health care players and politicians have long debated the issue of medical transparency.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, October 14, 2009State of the Technology: Geoffrey Rubin, MD, on 3D Visualization
As CT technology continues to advance and the number of slices in a given exam grows exponentially.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, October 14, 2009Health Care Efficiency: No Miracle Cure
Health care reform ideas are everywhere these days.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, October 14, 2009Beyond the Software: Creating the Optimal Enterprise Imaging Environment
A familiar face on exhibit floors from Chicago to Vienna and in hospital radiology departments around the world, Robert Cooke, has participated in the commercial development of PACS from its very early days.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, October 12, 2009Daily Exam Volume as a Management Tool
Some management techniques take advantage of basic receivables-system information to monitor charge capture and forecast future exam caseloads.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, October 12, 2009The ACR and Its Real-world B-school
Radiology is stepping up to the very difficult challenges it faces with the help of an expanding cadre of strong leaders
Radiology Business Journal, October 01, 200924/7 Coverage: The New Norm
Teleradiology has reshaped the delivery of imaging services across the board, but it has had a particularly strong impact on around-the-clock coverage.
Radiology Business Journal, October 01, 2009Restructuring the Balance Sheet
If you are anything like me, you have had a few sleepless nights worrying about the future of the health-services industry.
Radiology Business Journal, October 01, 2009The Netflix Cultural Revolution
When Netflix posted a PowerPoint® presentation detailing its culture on the Internet
Radiology Business Journal, October 01, 2009How Culture Informs Hiring
One of the greatest risks taken by a radiology practice with a formal corporate culture in place is that of hiring personnel who will not support its values.
Radiology Business Journal, October 01, 2009The Cultural Revolution: Two Case Studies on Corporate
Private and public companies alike have long sown the seeds of success by conceiving and adhering to a corporate culture that dictates how employees interact with customers and clients, as well as with each other.
Radiology Business Journal, October 01, 2009At the Intersection of Radiology and the EHR
A tight interface between electronic patient records and PACS does more than further the ARRA objective of improving the quality of health care; it also has significant medicolegal and economic implications
Radiology Business Journal, October 01, 2009Grand Junction: The Role of Radiology in an Integrated Delivery System
In the June 1, 2009, issue of The New Yorker,¹ surgeon-journalist Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, introduces the world to two US cities that, when contrasted with one another, expose the wide gulf in the cost of US health care delivery and outcomes: McAllen, Texas, and Grand Junction, Colorado
Radiology Business Journal, October 01, 2009The Impact of 320 Detector Rows: Aquilion ONE in the Pediatric Setting
The 320-detector CT scanner, recently implemented at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, has minimized dose requirements, reduced the need for sedation, and opened the door for future research
Radiology Business Journal, October 01, 2009Finding Benchmarks for Imaging’s Operating Costs
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
Radiology Business Journal, October 01, 2009DRA II: CMS Proposes Slashing the Technical Component Again
A proposed 90% equipment-utilization formula and brand-new lowball practice-expense data courtesy of the AMA will deal radiology a new round of cuts comparable to those contained in the DRA.
Radiology Business Journal, October 01, 2009Strategy Before Structure, Blue Ocean Style
Business strategy has been proceeding backward for three decades or more, according to the authors of Blue Ocean Strategy.¹
Radiology Business Journal, October 01, 2009Raising the Voices of Radiology
Radiology has a very human story to tell, and its grassroots coalition in New York is engaging the support of elected officials to avert a second round of crippling imaging cuts
Radiology Business Journal, October 01, 2009Now, the OIG Takes Aim
Yet another wearisome attack on imaging from Washington begs a question: Will decision makers ever get to the real roots of health care inefficiency?
Radiology Business Journal, October 01, 2009MIPPA’s Impact on Imaging
At the 2009 annual meeting of AHRA: The Association for Medical Imaging Management in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 12.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, September 10, 2009Hybrid Radiology Model Merges On-site Radiology With Remote Reading
In 2005, Lima Memorial Health System (LMHS), Lima, Ohio, was managing its 100,000 imaging studies per year.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, September 10, 2009DR Done the Right Way
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.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, September 10, 2009Enterprise Visualization: The CIO Story
When contemplating implementation of an enterprise-wide advanced visualization solution, expect to hear many concerns voiced by various stakeholders—and look for the CIO’s voice to be front and center among them.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, September 10, 2009Forging Multigenerational Teams in Radiology
A satisfied generation X worker is getting more than a paycheck—and is doing more than following instructions, according to Lisa Landry, MBA, MRT(N), Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Detroit.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, September 10, 2009Isotope Shortage Hinders Nuclear Medicine
It was the worst news that the nuclear-medicine community could receive when, on August 12, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL), Chalk River, Ontario, announced that the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor would remain shut down until at least January 2010.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, September 10, 2009OIC Reimbursement: The Multipronged Attack
In an illustration used for hospital clients, analyst Shay Pratt pinpoints imaging centers for sale around the country
ImagingBiz Newsletter, September 10, 2009Too Much Health Care?
Of all the issues facing today’s imaging executives and radiologists, none sounds more cacophonous than the nearly universal cry that the United States spends too much on its health care.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, September 10, 2009Whom Do You Trust?
There is perhaps no greater indicator of an organization’s cultural health than the degree to which members of the group—really, a community—trust one another.
Radiology Business Journal, September 10, 2009Contract Research Organizations: Radiology’s Newest Revenue Stream
Pharmaceutical and device makers’ use of imaging for research is providing a new outlet for radiologists’ services.
Radiology Business Journal, September 10, 2009The Reality of Digital Mammography: How Digital Are You?
Digital mammograms are now being delivered at more than 50% of the mammography sites in the nation.
Radiology Business Journal, September 10, 2009The ASTRO Survey: Proposed 20% to 30% Cuts Would Devastate Radiation Oncology
Medicare has proposed a 19% overall reimbursement cut for radiation oncology
Radiology Business Journal, September 10, 2009Vertical Integration of Outpatient Cancer Care
With quality and efficiency driving the trend toward vertically integrated cancer care, outpatient imaging providers must find new ways to integrate into the delivery model or risk being sidelined
Radiology Business Journal, September 09, 2009Radiology Braces for Change Ahead
Some US employees still enjoy Cadillac-style health plans in which little is paid out of pocket and coverage includes almost every health need, but health care costs for its workers helped send Cadillac maker General Motors into bankruptcy.
Radiology Business Journal, September 09, 2009The Invisible Radiologist Meets the New Math, Climate Change, and Business 101
A leading industry analyst suggests that radiology practices and hospital imaging executives must adapt to the new order or risk extinction
Radiology Business Journal, September 09, 2009Training Technologists to Smile
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.
Radiology Business Journal, September 09, 2009The 25% Administrative Complexity Conundrum
A modest 10% optimization of health care’s administrative processes would save the US health care system $500 billion over 10 years.
Radiology Business Journal, September 09, 2009Adding Patient Value to Health Care
Harvard professor, best-selling business author, and management consultant specializing in competitive advantage Michael E. Porter, PhD, offers his free-market spin on health care reform¹ in the July 8, 2009, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Radiology Business Journal, September 09, 2009Embrace (and Expect) the Clutch
Think of the current economic crisis in terms of an acute myocardial infarction.
Radiology Business Journal, September 09, 2009Against the Sword of Damocles
Radiology will fare better under reform than in its absence; it is advisable to join the battle
Radiology Business Journal, September 09, 2009The Demise of Reason (and Eating Crow)
When politics enters the health care debate, reason departs
Radiology Business Journal, September 09, 2009Quantifying Imaging’s Value to Patients
Contrary to popular belief among regulators and payors, imaging studies do, in fact, contribute to improved patient care.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, August 18, 2009RIS Migration at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center
It’s as extreme a transition as any IT professional could imagine: moving from a remotely hosted RIS to a fully integrated RIS/PACS over the course of just a few short months.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, August 18, 2009Health Care Reform and Medical Imaging: The 10,000-foot View
The Obama administration is pursuing an aggressive timetable to deliver on a campaign promise to make affordable health care available to all US residents.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, August 18, 2009Iterative Reconstruction: Ready for Its Close-up?
Enhanced image clarity, less noise, and half the radiation exposure for patients: sound good?
ImagingBiz Newsletter, August 17, 2009Taking Advantage of the Radiology Audit
A radiology provider should look at an audit as a strategic opportunity
ImagingBiz Newsletter, August 17, 2009Radiology’s Role in Limiting Health Care–acquired Infections
In a session at this month’s meeting of AHRA
ImagingBiz Newsletter, August 17, 2009Developing Innovative Customer-service Initiatives
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.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, August 17, 2009Whom Do You Trust?
There is perhaps no greater indicator of an organization’s cultural health than the degree to which members of the group—really, a community—trust one another.
ImagingBiz Newsletter, August 17, 2009
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