"Eliminating this flexibility would significantly reduce outpatient imaging capacity, forcing many patients to seek services in hospital-based settings," the RBMA contends. 

UPDATED: “These high numbers highlight the disconnect between the two sides as they debate what constitutes a reasonable payment for OON services,” experts write in Health Affairs. 

“Unlike [prior authorization], this model does not delay patient care and does not hold members liable to pay for unneeded exams,” writes radiologist Mark Hiatt, MD, MBA. 

“Given recent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services coverage of CTC for CRC screening, this study and its conclusions are more important than ever,” experts write. 

Andover, Mass.-based Commonwealth Radiology Associates is teaming with Heywood Healthcare, an independent, community-owned hospital group, to deliver imaging services. 

The platform was designed to address some of the “brutal challenges” radiologists have faced over the past couple of decades.

Consulting firm Vizient is forecasting continued growth in the specialty, driven by shifts in where patients receive care, new therapies that require imaging and a rapidly aging population. 

This new guidance emphasizes that clinical and operational decisions must “remain in the ultimate control” of radiologists or other clinicians, the AMA said Monday.