This article is the first in a three-part series.

With reimbursement increasingly linked to patient satisfaction, as well as a growing consumer influence in health-care spending, making a positive patient experience possible is a priority for radiology groups and hospitals. Stephen Neushul, CEO of iCRco, a developer of CR, DR, and mammography systems (as well as complementary software), sat down

Evidence suggests that imaging utilization declined between 2009 and 2011, particularly for the high-tech modalities, including CT and MRI. Data1 from Regents Health Resources published in Radiology Business Journal indicate that growth in medical imaging slowed, relative to US population growth, in this time period, and that CT utilization

Thanks to the June 28 Supreme Court decision, one problem that radiology practices might not face for much longer is managing payment from uninsured patients—an issue that currently plagues hospital-based groups, in particular, according to Krista Pelensky, director of operations with Medical Management Professionals (MMP). “Many hospital-based

One trend, in medicine, is for primary-care and specialty physicians to use ultrasound—and, perhaps, other imaging modalities—in their practices. From my perspective (and with 20 years of experience as an imaging and hospital administrator and consultant, US medicine is evolving away from fee-for-service reimbursement and toward outcomes-based

Well, it happened: In a surprise ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of health-care reform by interpreting the individual mandate as a tax. The full decision is well worth reading, but the upshot is that starting in 2015, our already beleaguered—some would say broken—health-care system will take on up to 30 million additional

Radiologists have much to dislike in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed changes to the 2013 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), and they are not alone. Radiation oncologists would be hit with a 15% reduction in payment for services, says the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Almost half of that cut is

President Obama on Monday signed the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, which makes it easier for the FDA to approve and fast-track new drugs and medical devices to market, and bolsters the FDA’s oversight of safety issues.