The familiar, contentious debate surrounding Medicare’s sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula came to a temporary close on June 24, when the House of Representatives, by passing HR 3962, finally agreed to a Senate plan to put off a 21.3% decrease in payment rates. The payment fix is only effective through November 30, however, ensuring yet another

As the technology used for radiologic studies matures, providers and referrers are increasingly focused on providing patients with a friendlier imaging environment—with good reason, according to Tariq Gill, MD. “We need to make a conscious effort to make things nonthreatening,” he says. “In our community, we have three main hospitals, and each one

Plenty remains unknowable about the incipient impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA), but the act does stand to affect imaging providers, specifically through its compliance, fraud, and payment provisions, many of which have already taken effect or will take effect in the near future.

This article is the second installment in a four-part series on applying basic business concepts to radiology. To read the first installment, click here.

For over thirty years, Radiation Physics Inc (Beltsville, Maryland) has been providing mobile imaging services to the Baltimore and Washington, DC, metropolitan areas, serving long-term–care and assisted-living clients, as well as prisons and private residences. “We started doing this in 1976, and the business model has been pretty much the same

Attracting referrals is more crucial than ever for imaging-center operators who hope to see their facilities survive, and even thrive, in these difficult times. The task of maintaining or increasing market share, however, is complicated by aggressive competitors, each of which wants to be recognized by the greatest possible number of physicians and

As the radiology marketplace matures, becoming increasingly competitive, it’s more important than ever for practices to differentiate themselves based on quality, according to Peter Franklin, MD, chair of radiology for Radisphere National Radiology Group, Cleveland, Ohio. “The bar has been significantly raised,” Franklin observes. “The referring

To enable imaging facilities to improve and maintain the quality of their breast MRI services, the ACR® has launched the Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging Accreditation Program (BMRAP). Like other ACR accreditation programs, BMRAP involves peer-review assessment of imaging centers’ processes and equipment, along with the caliber of their images and