Facility Management

CMS stirs up hornet’s nest with threat to disallowan option for local Medicare coverage decisions and prohibit cardiac CT angiography for all but trial patients

AIM illuminates CT, PET radiation doseCovidien beats patent suitPhilips reaches Ambient milestoneEmageon revenues dropAlliance reports mixed financials Vital Images revenues decline

tudies of chest pain patients with conventional 64-slice and dual-source CT add to a growing base of evidence suggesting that CT is well suited to rule out acute coronary syndrome in the emergency room and to identify coronary artery in-stent restenosis. An initial study of 256-slice CT presented at the RSNA meeting was encouraging, but the specter of high radiation exposure—especially exams covering the entire chest—challenged researchers to find better ways to reduce dose.

Merge slashes workforceAurora plans breast MR portalData accelerator ready for ECR launchHIMSS to host InSite One unveilingsEntry level PACS ready for HIMSS meeting

Teleradiology has matured into a significant and effective element of the healthcare system in Europe. But the legal framework needed to safeguard quality standards in the sector has not yet been established, according to speakers at the 2007 Management in Radiology congress held in the U.K.

Persuading cash-strapped hospitals to commit resources for a clinical interventional radiology service may seem a hard sell. But European interventional radiologists can make a strong case by concentrating on economics, especially now that more and more hospitals in Europe will be adopting the flat-rate reimbursement system based on diagnosis-related groups used in the U.S.

Imaging dodges knife in 2009TomoTherapy reaches milestoneInfinitt triples revenues in 4Q07Planar revenues riseBarco wins 15-site contract

As director of Diagnostic Imaging's online daily news service, I find nothing drives me crazier than a slow news day.

If ever suspicion arose that the way the government regulates medicine is on a dangerous track, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is on the verge of erasing any doubt with a decision that could severely curb or halt the development of coronary CT angiography.

NightHawk Radiology gears up for plaque studyAmicas snags 60 contracts in 2007PC-based ultrasound nears U.S. marketCarestream launches improved radiographic table

Varian 1Q performance tops expectationsVarian/BrainLAB joint product gains tractionAccuray offers treatment planning teamTomoTherapy updates Hi-ArtVisage recruits global marketing execAgfa taps CV sales consultantNY hospital wins free MR scanner

Preliminary results from more than 20,000 patients in the National Oncologic PET Registry found that referring physicians changed their intended clinical management for more than one-third of cancer patients based on findings from FDG-PET.

Imaging center installs dual-source CTFDA clears next-generation radiotherapyDeJarnette prepares data sharing key for HIMSSInSite One shuffles sales leadership

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is weighing comments from the medical community regarding a plan, announced last month, to overturn local Medicare coverage of cardiac CT angiography for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. The only exception would be for patients enrolled in research trials preapproved by Medicare.

Partnership of public and private sectors and academia, resembling coalition built around breast imaging, may bring about 'manogram'

Basic guidelines and formulas can help both parties estimate worth of imaging center and avoid unprofitable guesswork

An intersocietal task force representing radiologists and cardiologists has asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to withdraw its controversial national coverage determination for cardiac CT because of omissions in the scientific inquiry that guided development of the reimbursement rules.

Radiology is at a crossroads, according to three prominent radiologists who have followed the specialty's digital revolution and evolution of practice. Their message was characterized by the RSNA as "a warning and a challenge."

This year for the first time the RSNA meeting offered a scientific abstract session dedicated exclusively to pediatric CT and dose. Papers from Asia, Europe, and the U.S. reflect that the growing concern over radiation exposure from medical imaging, particularly in young patients, has reached almost every corner of the world.

Prostate cancer imaging experts sent out a clear message in 2007: Prostate cancer in the U.S. has become an unrecognized patient care crisis that needs tackling. The good news is these experts agree that advanced imaging technologies could help in early detection and minimally invasive treatment. The lack of a cohesive national strategy is worrisome, however, and they want to see the adoption of a broad initiative for diagnosing and treating prostate cancer similar to that for breast cancer.

Diagnostic imaging centers have experienced significant ownership changes over the last few years. Radiologist affiliation arrangements, hospital joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, as well as other creative equity sharing activities, have come to be viewed as key to capital formation strategies necessary for succeeding in the highly competitive diagnostic imaging center industry. At the core of each of these transactional activities is financial valuation.

Emory University trial results showed that a new technique called stereoscopic digital mammography reduces false positives by 49% and false negatives by 40% in women with an elevated risk of breast cancer. But the technique may have difficulty catching on, as it requires double the images and double the radiation dose compared with conventional digital mammography.

Medicare has proposed a national coverage policy for cardiac CT that would slam the door on outpatient payment for the most popular applications of cardiac CT.