These notifications can sometimes leave many patients feeling even more bewildered about their mammogram results than they were before being made aware of their dense tissue.

The PHE has been in effect since the early days of the pandemic, and it has been reaffirmed every 90 days since. CMS has indicated it will give healthcare stakeholders at least 60 days’ notice before winding down the PHE.

“We must make every effort to grant equitable access to tools that can help individuals and their loved ones treat and manage this disease."

The applications for VR/AR devices are wide-ranging, and could be particularly beneficial in underserved areas where patients have less access to care and clinicians have fewer opportunities to train.

Acotec, founded in 2008, designs and distributes a wide range of medical devices used in interventional cardiology, including drug-coated balloons and thrombus aspiration catheters.

Many patients are unaware of factors that influence how they are billed, such as ancillary fees and organizational setups that use parties offsite to interpret imaging studies. In turn, the pricing information patients receive prior to exams is often incomplete. 

“Royal appears to be a private group without any affiliates while maintaining financial motivation as their goal,” HHS warns.

High out-of-pocket costs are a growing problem in healthcare, often creating stress and confusion for patients. A new analysis in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes examined one way that physicians can help.