Rural U.S. populations often suffer poor access to healthcare services. The cracks many patients fall through are not the fault of radiology per se. However, researchers and rural radiologists agree that much imaging ground must be gained if location-based disparities are to be cut down to size.

A 92.6% reduction in the list price of tafamidis—an effective but ultimately unaffordable drug designed to treat transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy—would be required to make the medication accessible to the average heart patient, researchers reported in Circulation Feb. 12.

Ochsner Health, the 41-hospital system serving Louisiana, Mississippi and the Gulf South, is joining the ranks of academic medical institutions committed to paying the tuition of homegrown future physicians.

Administrator Seema Verma recently revealed that her agency has identified such changes as a top priority in 2020.

“This pioneering effort leverages evidence-based guidelines and the consensus of medical experts in a new and powerful way to optimize care for military veterans,” said Theodore L. DeWeese, MD, chair of ASTRO's board.

Twenty-four imaging advocacy groups are asking lawmakers to stave off any cuts to the National Institutes of Health, which funds numerous radiology-related research initiatives.

The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, which includes the American College of Radiology and Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, is pushing for a bump to the institute's budget.

Tenet Healthcare Corporation and its affiliated Palm Springs, Calif., hospital Desert Regional Medical Center (DRMC) have agreed to pay $1.41 million to the U.S. government to settle False Claims Act allegations that the organization knowingly charged Medicare for unnecessary procedures.