In addition to the hefty fine, the New York physician has agreed to relinquish ownership of his cardiology practice after exchanging kickbacks for PET and SPECT referrals for more than a decade.

“These results suggest that hospitals need to substantially improve the integration of their online pricing data with frontline staff who interact with patients," investigators wrote in JAMA Internal Medicine. 

"Under-compensation of out-of-network care will threaten the viability of smaller and independent physician practices," ACR and others charged. 

Experts offered three takeaways from their query of legal claims databases, sharing their findings in Radiology. 

ASNC President President Mouaz Al-Mallah, MD, said nuclear cardiology needs to upgrade old imaging systems and embrace new technology to deliver better value for patients. 

The Chicago-based industry giant’s goal is to aid healthcare professionals, including those without specialized training, in producing high-quality imaging exams. 

Nonphysician practitioners and ED residents also ordered a significantly greater proportion of such exams, experts detailed in JACR. 

GigCapital5 and the Novato, California-based ultrasound-maker first announced their intent to partner in December 2022, creating a company with combined value of $151M.