Facility Management

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the new version of MIM Software’s mobile imaging app, which is now approved for diagnostic X-ray and ultrasound viewing, the company announced.

Patient no-shows have long plagued the healthcare industry, and radiology is no exception. But there are tactics you can implement to reduce the no-show rate or recoup lost revenue.

CHICAGO - A common area where radiology practices can get into fraud trouble is in taking too much discretion when interpreting the order from a referring physician, according to Richard Duszak, MD, FACR.

CMS won't apply 25 percent professional component Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction in 2012 for same practice-different physician services.

CHICAGO - If you make a mistake, should you tell the patient or does that open you up to a malpractice suit? The rules seem to be changing – a little – according to a malpractice and medical error panel discussion at RSNA 2011.

Deciding on next steps in radiology training can be difficult and confusing. To help students, residents, and fellows in the decision-making process, here are a few resources.

Over the past 20 years, not only has clinical instruction during radiology residency changed, but so has the practice life that comes after it. Even as a growing number of medical students select radiology as a specialty, practice-setting preferences have shifted for your younger colleagues. They also have a different set of priorities to consider.

CHICAGO - As the number of CT scans done in the US has climbed, so has the number of incidental findings - and the related malpractice risks for radiologists. Leonard Berlin, MD, in an interview on malpractice risk at RSNA 2011, says the right path isn't clear.

CHICAGO - Arl Van Moore, Jr., MD, in an interview at RSNA 2011, discusses what it takes to be successful in radiology.

CHICAGO - Low-dose remained a top concern at RSNA 2011. James Brink, MD, co-chair of the Image Wisely Joint Task Force, announced that over 10,000 have taken the Image Wisely pledge. The effort to raise awareness asks radiologists to optimize the use of radiation when imaging patients.

CHICAGO - Emanuel Kanal, MD, FACR, boldly invited a plaintiff’s attorney to RSNA 2011. The intent? To let radiologists know how to protect themselves from malpractice suits.

If you don’t want radiology to become a commodity, just connect. That’s the advice Larry Muroff, MD, CEO and President of Imaging Consultants, Tampa, delivered at RSNA 2011.

CHICAGO - Traditionally, many radiologists have worked behind the scenes, not directly with patients. But the field can’t stay hidden if it wants to survive in its current form, she and others are convinced. Radiology can either become more personal or become a commodity.

CHICAGO - Radiology is still a great career, but students need to learn more about the opportunities and realities.

CHICAGO - You can't improve what you don't measure, says Paul Chang in this video clip from RSNA 2011. He thinks radiology practices should follow other businesses and adopt business analytics and key perfromance indicators. How else can you tell if you are adding quality and improving processes?

CHICAGO - Worried your private radiology practice will get swallowed up by a hospital? Perhaps there’s little need to fret. The hospital employment trend sweeping your primary care colleagues hasn’t - and likely won’t - hit radiology. That’s according to Shay Pratt, managing director with the Advisory Board Company, who spoke at an RSNA session Tuesday.

CHICAGO - Passing compact discs full of diagnostic images from institutions to patients and back will soon seem as archaic as “sneakernet” file transfer by floppy disk. That, at least, is the hope of the people behind RSNA Image Share, a $4.7 million initiative funded through the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) that was presented at RSNA Tuesday.

In the age of healthcare reform, boosting patient satisfaction with the services you provide is critical to reimbursement. Many of you have purchased open or wide-bore MRI machines with higher Tesla strength to make your claustrophobic patients more comfortable. Or maybe you’ve added a scanner just for children. But your imaging technology is only part of the fix, according to some in the industry.

A big buzzword in radiology currently is patient experience. Many practices have invested in updated machines and staff training to make sure the imaging process goes as smoothly for your patients as possible.

vRad's cloud-based teleradiology alliance model helps radiologists stay put, perform faster services, access subspecialists more easily.

Radiologists order just 5.3 percent of high-cost imaging examinations, according to a study published online on Nov. 14 in the journal Radiology.

In this podcast, Tom Gentile, president and CEO at GE Healthcare Systems, explains that “the whole focus of imaging is moving beyond the quality of the image.” Patient care, physician productivity and reimbursement take on a renewed focus in light of healthcare reform efforts internationally, he says.

Medical imaging managers reported low confidence that reimbursement rates will improve and that funding for capital purchase for equipment and IT will be available in the fourth quarter of 2011 (October to December).

Radiologists and imaging groups should discuss with their IT vendors the plans and strategies for certifying their technology under the federal meaningful use program, said Keith Dreyer, DO, PhD, vice chair of radiology informatics at Massachusetts General Hospital, speaking Thursday at the American College of Radiology’s inaugural Imaging Informatics Summit in Washington, D.C.