Raleigh, NC-based ImagingElements has introduced a cloud-based meaningful use (MU) services solution for radiology practices, called ElementMU. Designed to mitigate workflow impact while supporting MU compliance, the service leverages an ONC-ATCB-certified complete ambulatory EHR and custom-designed radiology user interface

Viztek, the Garner, NC-based digital software and hardware imaging solutions provider for the orthopedic practice market is teaming up with Phoenix Ortho, an orthopedic-exclusive electronic health record (EHR) vendor, to incorporate EHR software in Viztek’s Opal-ORTHO PACS and its range of DR offerings

Representative Ralph Hall (R-TX), along with lead co-sponsor Representative Danny Davis (D-IL), have reintroduced legislation to extend Medicare coverage to CT colonography as a colorectal cancer screening test. The previous such legislation died in committee when the last session of Congress ended

The settlement resolves claims that Radiology Associates, an independent Corpus Christi, Texas, radiology group, along with Children’s Physician Services of South Texas (CPSST), billed government payors twice for the professional reading and interpretation of thousands of pediatric genetic ultrasounds over a five-year period

The federal meaningful-use program has been particularly challenging for imaging, both in its inception and in its execution. Initially, it seemed as though radiology would be exempt from the system of incentives and penalties devised to increase electronic health record (EHR) adoption; a rule change reversed that, making 90% of practicing radiologists eligible providers. For specialists, however, the menu set of requirements can be puzzling, at best, and prohibitive to participation, at worst.

The theme of 2012’s annual RSNA meeting in Chicago, Illinois, was Patients First, reflecting a question on the minds of many in the imaging community: How can a specialty with very little patient interaction built into its workflow improve its service to patients? As an emerging practice model, patient-centered radiology has a nice ring to it, but as Greg Thomson, CPA, executive vice president with Medical Management Professionals (MMP), notes, “This represents a major cultural leap for radiology. Radiologists have long had multiple customers—including referring physicians and hospitals—along with patients, and because they often do not interact with patients, their focus has been on the referring physicians, not the patients. It is a mindset shift for the specialty.”

The diagnostic-imaging industry continues to face significant reimbursement headwinds as a result of recent Medicare reimbursement cuts. Industry-specific cuts recently enacted include the Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction (MPPR), which was introduced in the 2012 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) and expanded in the 2013 MPFS, and the increased equipment-utilization rate (used to calculate Medicare reimbursement) contained in the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA), passed in January 2013.

One of the most emotionally loaded conversations in imaging is that concerning efficiency and productivity. In recent years, these considerations have become increasingly vital to groups’ survival, according to Chad Calendine, MD, CMO of Optimal Radiology Partners and President of Premier Radiology (Nashville, Tennessee). “As peoples’ incomes began to decrease with decreasing reimbursement, they became more focused on how to regain that lost income, and the way to do that is through additional efficiencies and productivity,” he says. “It’s an emotional issue because it strikes to the heart of whether you are a good radiologist and a good partner. Are you pulling your weight?”