For the first five years of its existence, Tower Saint John’s Imaging, a full-service outpatient imaging center in Santa Monica, California, that is a joint venture between Saint John’s Health Center and Tower Imaging Medical Group, used its own RIS, PACS, and speech-recognition products separate from those of Saint John’s Health Center. The same

On November 30, the Physician Payment and Therapy Relief Act of 2010 was signed into law, delaying the 23% Medicare physician-payment cut mandated by the sustainable growth rate formula. The legislation replaced the cut with a 2.2% update through December 31, with the intention of giving Congress time to find a more permanent solution. On December

Recently altered CMS rules governing diagnostic-imaging supervision and interpretation agreements have created what one knowledgeable observer calls a horrible mess. Health-care attorney Tom Greeson, a partner in the law firm Reed Smith LLP of Falls Church, Virginia, expresses concern that regulatory changes that took effect earlier this year might

Here we are at the end of yet another tumultuous year in the health-care arena—perhaps one even more tumultuous than most. There are new laws, new expectations, revised plans, and lots more to write about as we face the consequences—intended and otherwise. Having just returned from the annual gathering of the imaging clan that is RSNA, I am pleased

Minnesota’s groundbreaking Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI) has reached an agreement with Nuance, Burlington, Massachusetts, to license its decision-support and analytics software for a statewide electronic utilization management initiative to ensure delivery of clinically indicated high-tech diagnostic imaging. The statewide

A Montana radiologist has won a three-year legal battle and a $4 million breech-of-contract settlement from St James Healthcare, Butte, Montana, which revoked his hospital privileges and replaced him and two other practitioners with radiologists from Boston. Jesse Cole, MD, of Big Sky Imaging in Butte, also alleged that the hospital had damaged

While traditional closed MRI systems continue to offer a multitude of benefits, competition and a growing population of patients who cannot tolerate them make a closer look at alternative modalities warranted, according to Ronald F. Bernardi, FAHRA. He presented “Know Your Market to Grow Your Market” on August 24, 2010, at the annual meeting of

Arnold Schwarzenegger, California’s governor, signed a new radiation patient protection law in October 2010 that mandates strict procedures and reporting requirements for CT scanners and radiation-therapy procedures, as well as the reporting of radiation overdoses to the state’s Department of Public Health (DPH).