The practice has identified a billing error or a compliance problem impacting Medicare coverage that resulted in the practice having received an overpayment from Medicare.

January 1, 2017, is likely to be a red-letter day for radiology. As of this date, physicians ordering advanced diagnostic imaging exams (CT, MRI, nuclear medicine, and PET) for Medicare beneficiaries must, in compliance with the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, consult government-approved, evidence-based appropriate use criteria through a clinical decision support (CDS) system.

The prices hospitals set for a series of common procedures increased by more than 10% between 2011 and 2013. That’s a faster surge than the rate of inflation—and it’s just one of 50 “things to know about healthcare costs” as spotlighted in a mid-year report from Becker’s Hospital CFO.

Imagine if you could image the future. You’d see the exact path your radiology group must take to protect, and expand, its business. You’d be safe, secure and satisfied.

“The one thing Democrats and Republicans agree about is mammograms: We need more, not less, screening. Meanwhile, screening has become radiology’s raison d’être, the treatment effect, the proof that imaging saves lives, the link between the radiologist in a dark room and the people.”

The past 35 years have seen U.S. consumers pay for a steadily growing portion of their own healthcare. In fact they’ve ponied up roughly $40 to $50 more each year, driving the average annual out-of-pocket expense from $250 in 1980 to $1,300 in 2015. 

It’s a duo of developments that are completely unrelated yet similarly themed and coincidentally timed. Within the space of hours, one prestigious U.S. hospital system gives word of layoffs and another announces wage increases.

Challenges and opportunities created by the Affordable Care Act are prompting two-thirds of companies to consider altering their pre-65 retiree health strategies over the next few years, according to a new Aon Hewitt survey.