Business Intelligence

Providers utilize business intelligence to monitor referral patterns and collaborate with clinicians who order their services. Such analytics tools have also been deployed in the specialty to improve productivity, track patient satisfaction and bolster quality.

CMS Payment Proposal Disappoints Hospitals

The American Hospital Association (AHA) has publicly said its constituents are “deeply disappointed” by a proposed rule for fiscal 2012 issued Tuesday by the Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Effective for discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2011, the proposed rule would decrease average inpatient payments to acute-care

Imaging Coalition Rejects MedPAC Recommendation

The Imaging e-Ordering Coalition is urging the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) to abandon its recommendation that practitioners who order high levels of imaging be required to obtain prior authorization. An alliance of providers, companies, and associations whose ranks include the American College of Radiology (ACR), the coalition

CD/PACS Integration May Reduce Emergency Room Imaging Rates

Successful integration of CDs into PACS has the potential to reduce the number of imaging studies performed in hospital emergency departments, according to a two-part study conducted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and published in the May issue of Radiology.

HHS Launches Nationwide Initiative To Reduce Medical Errors

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last week announced the launch of Partners for Patients, a new program aimed at eliminating medical errors and reducing healthcare costs on a national scale.

Application Shown To Increase Lung Nodule Detection

Using a bone suppression application with chest x-rays significantly increases the detection of lung nodules proven to be primary lung cancer, according to a peer-reviewed study funded by Riverain Medical, a provider of computer-aided detection (CAD) and advanced visualization technologies.

Federal Regulations ‘Burdensome’To Physicians, AMA Members Say

Unfunded federal mandates, the elimination of Medicare payment for physician consultations, and incompatible and inconsistent quality initiatives offer a roadmap for the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) to make strategic changes that benefit the entire Medicare system, according to a letter sent to CMS by the American Medical

Teleradiology App Receives CE Mark

Aycan Medical Systems late last week announced that it has received CE clearance to market its mobile imaging app in Europe and is awaiting FDA clearance to do the same in the U.S.

Developing a Data-storage Strategy

Cloud-based storage requires evaluation, just as any other storage strategy does, according to James T. Whitfill, MD, CIO of Scottsdale Medical Imaging Ltd (SMIL) in Arizona. “You have to understand how the cloud provider replicates data to different locations, so you trust that there really are multiple copies of those data; that they are kept