Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC) was organized in early 2006, soon after Congress passed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 which significantly reduced the level of funding for medical imaging services provided in independent imaging facilities and physician offices. AMIC represents more than 75,000 physicians and medical providers, as

Efforts to raise awareness of radiation dose in medical imaging saw significant activity on three fronts this past month, suggesting that radiology may be mobilizing to raise awareness of the issue. The National Council on Radiation Protection & Measurements (NCRP) released preliminary results of a new study showing a five-fold increase in exposure

When Hartford, Connecticut-based Jefferson Radiology came calling roughly a year-and-a-half ago for Mark S. Grossman, he was happily ensconced in a large radiology practice in Cincinnati, Ohio. But the opportunity to serve Connecticut’s largest private radiology practice, founded in 1963, proved irresistible. All of the ingredients for success were

Here we go again! Just when the DRA impact is beginning to be felt as the A/R collections period from Q4 06 morphs into the reality of weaker cash receipts in Q2 07, the American College of Radiology (ACR) Regulatory Update that I attended at the recent Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA) meeting in St Louis revealed the insipient

Emerging from the two addresses delivered by noted health informaticist Brent James, MD, at the last meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), attendees could not help but ask the above question. If ever there was a case for managing the utilization of care, that time is now.

An amended complaint filed by the Illinois Attorney General in the per-click leasing complaint, initially filed by a whistleblower last year, parsed out a few more legal entities that operated the 19 named imaging centers, but failed to name any of the referring physicians in the complaint.

I recently attended an outpatient imaging center conference where, not surprisingly, surviving the DRA, dominated the discussion. It also was no surprise that increasing volume was the prevailing recommendation for solving the issue. Economically, it makes sense. When the price goes down, a company must attract more customers and serve them more

Two major imaging center organizations released their annual 10-K reports last month, providing the first official projections of the impact of the DRA on corporate imaging center companies. Not surprisingly, the DRA figured prominently in the risk factors section for both MQ Associates, Alpharetta, Ga, which owns MedQuest, and Alliance Imaging,