Charleston Radiologists in South Carolina is an 18-radiologist group that covers three hospitals, as well as several urgent-care centers and physicians’ offices that offer medical imaging. Michael Garovich, MD, a radiologist with the group, says, “For images from these smaller, outside entities to get into our PACS, the demographic information had

In November, CMS released the final rule for the formation of accountable-care organizations (ACOs), intended to spark a transition away from fee-for-service medicine and toward value-based purchasing. Groups of providers can begin registering as ACOs as early as April 2012, positioning themselves to be paid according to their ability to reduce

Robert Pyatt, MD, a radiologist with Chambersburg Imaging Associates in Pennsylvania, recalls well the decision that his practice made to contract with a teleradiology group, almost 10 years ago. “We started with teleradiology in the fall of 2002,” he says. “Before then, we would be up all night reading cases. Then, life got a lot better—we would

There is no more compelling story in radiology today than the urgency with which organized radiology and imaging modality vendors have come together to address the issue of dose management in radiology. Yes, more work lies ahead, and significant challenges remain—but the swiftness and decisiveness with which providers and vendors have cooperated,

In September 2010, California Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger™ signed into law a measure mandating that radiologists include dose–length product or volume CT dose index in all reports. Such a development probably spurred many imaging service providers to begin thinking about radiation-dose–reduction initiatives, but Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center

Dose management (including dose-reduction strategies) is a dominant topic of conversation throughout the imaging world. Cross-disciplinary efforts to resolve the issue are moving to the forefront of both vendor and provider dockets, spurred on not least by quality metrics that tie reimbursement rates to patient outcomes.

Health IT continues to advance at a breakneck pace, and recent developments hold enormous potential for enhancing the productivity of both radiologists and the physicians who refer to them, according to Rick Jennings, CTO of Virtual Radiologic (vRad), Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jennings shared his perspective on some recent developments in health IT

In the May 2011 issue of Journal of the American College of Radiology: JACR, the ACR® Future Trends Committee¹ published a paper focused on helping radiologists manage the transition to value-based purchasing. The paper outlines roles for radiologists that might be helpful in successfully participating in accountable-care organizations (ACOs).