“When you thought insurers couldn’t get more evil, they come up with something even worse than you anticipated,” one physician said. 

“Rapidly rising healthcare costs continue to be a top concern for members and their employers," the nation's largest commercial insurer wrote in a recent letter to an unidentified imaging group. 

Researchers with two academic health systems recently tried a new approach to increase LDCT uptake, reaching patients electronically outside of a regular appointment and asking them to request a screening. 

It is estimated that less than 20% of eligible patients in the U.S. adhere to LCS recommendations, despite numerous studies highlighting the exam’s effectiveness. 

The update eliminates the requirement for a physician to be on-site and now allows techs to perform venipuncture and conduct contrast administration under remote supervision.

Outpatient Imaging Affiliates has inked an agreement with Keck Medicine, providing revenue cycle and imaging center management services for a facility in Pasadena. 

The company now operates over 150 outpatient imaging centers across 23 major markets also including Dallas, Houston, Denver, D.C. and more. 

A twofold increase in distance traveled from home to an imaging center resulted in substantially higher severity in these patients’ conditions, researchers detailed in JACR.