PACS data migration is so important that every PACS acquisition should include a plan for outbound migration at the end of that system’s life, according to Frederick M. Behlen, PhD. Behlen is an officer, director, and shareholder of LAITEK Inc, also known as Migratek™ Data Migration Services, Homewood, Ill. He serves as cochair of the DICOM–HL7

At Palm Beach Radiology Institute, operated by Palm Beach Radiology and Imaging Associates (PBRIA), there is no film, there never has been film, and no one expects ever to see film. When the outpatient imaging center opened a year ago, it was already an all-digital environment, built from the ground up to accommodate a digital infrastructure and a

It’s easy to let quality assurance (QA) slip into a lip-service category, but that is something that a nighttime stat-reading teleradiology service can’t afford to do—particularly if it is an industry leader like NightHawk Radiology Services. Dionne Watts, quality-assurance supervisor, says “QA for teleradiology is important because the client

In a major front-page story, "The High Cost of Precision," in its Sunday, September 7, 2008 edition, the Los Angeles Times once again focused on the negative side of CT technology. Its opening statement positioned its argument by saying, "CT scans produce detailed views of internal organs, but they expose patients to significant radiation." The

To say that the health care regulatory environment has been active over the past two years would be an understatement. The focus of this article is Medicare: the primary payor for health care services in this country and, often, the standard by which other payors establish their payment rules. Revisions to Medicare regulations often foretell what

Access to high-quality patient care is a cornerstone of customer-focused service delivery, Michael A. Silver, PhD, says. In turn, that goal is supported by technology that enhances performance and allows the imaging provider to do more with less. Part of making less go further is maximizing reimbursement through better management, he adds, ensuring

Finally, some good news for imaging. The eleventh-hour override of the president’s veto in early July saved the day for physicians, if only temporarily. Now, the bad news: The cumulative adjustments in the sustainable growth rate affecting the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule will now come due in a mere 18 months. The 10% reduction scheduled for

In 1998, Lynn Elliott, MBA, CPA, accepted a position as CEO of the thriving, hospital-based practice of Radiology Associates of Tarrant County (RATC), Fort Worth, Tex. With nine hospital clients but just one full-service imaging center, RATC charged Elliott with the task of growing the practice’s outpatient imaging center business. Fresh from a