Policy

Joseph J. Cappello, executive director of Are You Dense and Are You Dense Advocacy, spoke to Radiology Business about how it felt to finally see federal breast density notification requirements signed into law.

CMS has created a podcast called “CMS: Beyond the Policy” to inform industry stakeholders about changes and updates to its policies and programs, the agency announced. 

The American College of Radiology (ACR) has asked radiologists and other healthcare professionals to send them invoices that reflect the real-world costs associated with purchasing ultrasound equipment.

CMS has proposed covering a new form of cancer therapy, CAR T-cell therapy, under Medicare. The proposal would create a uniform standard of covering the treatment, which uses a patient’s own immune system to fight the disease.

When President Donald Trump signed a federal funding bill into law on Feb. 15, it included text that said that all mammography providers must include updated information about breast density in reports sent to both patients and their physicians.

Genetic testing should be available for all breast cancer patients to determine hereditary risk in addition to standard imaging exams, according to new guidelines published Feb. 14 by The American Society of Breast Surgeons. 

HHS is pushing new interoperability rules to encourage better care coordination and empower patients to become stronger partners in their care through access to their digital health records––and the industry seems to be on board.

HHS and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) introduced a new payment model for emergency ambulance services that would allow Medicare beneficiaries to receive care on-the-scene or at lower acuity sites, such as urgent care clinics.

Young athletes in New Jersey may soon benefit from a new proposal aimed at drastically reducing concussions and other contact injuries in high school football before and during the season.

Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMC) with higher levels of employee organizational satisfaction also tend to have higher safety scores and patient satisfaction ratings, according to new research published in the American Journal of Medicine.

The Trump administration’s recent proposal to eliminate rebates between drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) is not a big surprise to those who have been paying attention to the rhetoric of CMS and HHS officials, but the impact of swapping rebates for direct discounts is still a big question.

The FDA is cracking down on the supplement industry, after Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, asked the makers of 12 different supplements to cease claiming their products cure various diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and cancer, among others. Additionally, Gottlieb announced a new plan for policy advancements in an effort to modernize dietary supplement regulation and oversight.