Management

This page includes content on healthcare management, including health system, hospital, department and clinic business management and administration. Areas of focus are on cardiology and radiology department business administration. Subcategories covered in this section include healthcare economics, reimbursement, leadership, mergers and acquisitions, policy and regulations, practice management, quality, staffing, and supply chain.

Mammography’s Crisis Offers Opportunity, Too

Michael N. Linver, MD, FACR, is committed to mammography screening to detect breast cancer—what he calls screening’s role in saving women’s lives. When it comes to mammography, Linver also has a combative side: Now that screening mammography has come under attack from some critics as a possibly less-than-effective technique, Linver is fighting back

It’s All About Scale

Sponsored by Hitachi Healthcare Americas

An October 26 commentary in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Big Insurance, Big Medicine” was prescient in its evaluation of the impact on the health-care profession—the business of medicine—of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. I say prescient because the predicted impact happens to parallel the transformation of the business side of

FDA Investigation Cites Human Error in CT Scan Radiation Overdoses

A recent series of radiation overdose incidents in CT brain perfusion exams were likely due to improper use of CT systems, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Earlier this week, the agency announced the results of its investigation into these incidents, noting that they were “most likely” caused by human error rather than by

NLST Trial Halted; Low-dose CT Scans Reduce Lung Cancer Deaths

Former and heavy smokers screened for lung cancer with low-dose helical CT are less likely to die of lung cancer than those screened with standard chest X-rays, according to initial results of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) released yesterday. Sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the largest randomized study of lung cancer

Betting Long: Technology Investment Trumps Partners’ Income Boost

Many radiology-practice leaders will, at one juncture or another, pursue business directions intended to increase partners’ incomes. While nothing is inherently wrong with this approach, following an alternate route that involves investing in technology to position the practice for greater income in the future—and leveraging data to justify and

A Conversation With Douglas G. Smith: The Business-intelligence Imperative

Today, more than ever, imaging providers must harness the power of actionable business intelligence in all aspects of their operations, including the communication of quantifiable outcomes to payors, client hospitals, referrers, and patients. Such is the strategy to be explored in each issue of RadAnalytics, under the MedAnalytix.com umbrella.

Driven by Data: Instinct Takes a Back Seat to Metrics

In early 2009, physician and business leaders of Advanced Medical Imaging Consultants, PC, Fort Collins, Colorado, found themselves wrestling with the decision of whether to add a new site of service at a rural hospital. Instinct told them that the practice was up for the challenge: With 27 radiologists and 17 staff members (including full-time

Health Care M&A Activity Spikes in Q3

Health care mergers and acquisition activity spiked to $66.5 billion in the third quarter of 2010, up 44% from the $45.1 billion spent in the previous quarter, reveals a new report from research firm Irving Levin Associates, Norwalk, Ct. Third-quarter activity also rose 74% from the $38.2 billion spent during the same three months of last year, the