The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in a Feb. 26 final decision memorandum, proposed that “the available evidence is sufficient to determine that NaF-18 PET imaging to identify bone metastasis of cancer to inform the initial antitumor treatment strategy or to guide subsequent antitumor treatment strategy after the completion of initial treatment, is reasonable and necessary” through coverage with evidence development.
The growth rate among non-radiologists who own or lease PET equipment was far higher than radiologists between 2002 and 2007, according to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
A recent poll of healthcare providers by consulting firm IVANS indicated that they plan to make better use of health IT in an effort to curtail potential cutbacks from Medicare funding.
With public attention in the United States focused on ways to reform the healthcare system, a publication from ABI Research examines wireless telehealth and forecasts that 15 million systems will be in use--mainly in North America--by early in 2012, and may serve as a means of cost savings.
Reductions in outpatient interventional radiology practice expenses under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule have reduced reimbursement for interventional outpatient procedures--particularly in freestanding offices--far more than the Deficit Reduction Act and other recent Medicare reimbursement changes, according to research published in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
The Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC) released new data analysis Monday countering recommendations from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), which has called for significant cuts in physician reimbursement rates for advanced medical imaging procedures.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed decision memo stating that available evidence was inadequate to conclude that CT colonography (CTC) is an appropriate colorectal cancer screening test, leaving many radiologists and medical imaging professionals shocked.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a proposed decision memo for screening CT colonography (CTC) for colorectal cancer, finding that the evidence is inadequate to conclude that it is an appropriate colorectal cancer screening test.
UnitedHealth Group, in a $50 million settlement with N.Y. Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, has been ordered to overhaul two of its databases used to determine out-of-network reimbursement amounts for certain health plan members.
Telehealth – or Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) – investment within the healthcare industry remains low due to lacking systems and insufficient payer reimbursement and other limitations, according to a recent study.
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The molecular imaging market is currently valued at approximately $5 billion, with half of the revenue being generated in North America alone, according to a market research report from Espicom Business Intelligence.
The American College of Radiology (ACR) has launched an online nuclear medicine and PET accreditation application program to potentially reduce the time for facilities to become accredited.
A Web site has allowed people in Minnesota for the last five years the opportunity to compare quality among health providers. Now they can compare cost.
Members of the American College of Radiology (ACR) urged the U.S. House of Representatives Rural Caucus against using radiology benefits managers (RBMs) in the Medicare system and against a proposed imaging equipment utilization rate change from 50 to 95 percent at a Capitol Hill briefing held June 24.
Healthcare providers representing hospitals, health-insurance companies, doctors, drug makers and medical-device makers on Monday pledged their commitment to President Barack Obama to reduce cost increases in the U.S. healthcare system by $2 trillion over the next decade.
The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) has called on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reject the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) recommendations for significant changes to physician reimbursement rates for advanced medical imaging procedures.
Cigna has ceased its use of the discredited Ingenix databases and partnered with N.Y. Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo to create an independent not-for-profit organization to administer a new database that will determine charges for covered care from doctors outside its network.
The American Medical Association (AMA) and several state medical associations, including the Medical Society of New Jersey, joined with individual physicians in filing separate class-action lawsuits against Aetna Health and Cigna, claiming the payors "rigged data to dramatically under-reimburse physicians."
Medicare Part A payments for conditions like heart attacks and other illnesses may soon be linked to hospital performance on a variety of quality measures, according to a discussion draft of a bill proposed by Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
House-approved decreases in Medicare reimbursement for medical imaging that are part of the U.S. House budget reconciliation legislation have come under fire the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) which believes the reduction will put pa
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The use of health IT to reduce rehospitalizations will be welcome but also disruptive, said Stephen Jencks, an independent consultant in healthcare safety during a Feb. 24 webinar on the potential use of health IT to mitigate rehospitalizations, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
During the Health IT Standards Committee meeting on Feb. 24 in Washington, D.C., the Clinical Operations Workgroup sought to gather comments on proposed recommendations on implementation specifications for content exchange, vocabulary and code set standards for the Interim Final Rule of meaningful use.
In 2006, the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), a branch of the FDA, began examining the number of medical device reports they received. Over the past two years, the number of submitted reports has increased, sparking a demand for the CDRH to make a move to electronic reporting.
A new hospital breaking ground usually isn’t breaking news. But the vision of patient care at one new facility, tentatively named Palomar Medical Center West (PMC West), is currently illegal under California state law.