Topic

Reimbursement


CMS amends restriction of ‘only one’ FDG PET scan for certain tumors

Top Stories | Sunday, August 08 2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a decision memo stating that the national coverage determination manual will be changed to remove the current absolute restriction of coverage to ‘only one’ FDG PET scan, and local Medicare administrative contractors will have discretion to cover (or not cover) any additional FDG PET scan for initial treatment strategy in solid tumors and myeloma.
 

AMP recommends regulations on lab developed tests to the FDA

Industry News | Wednesday, July 21 2010
The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) has made recommendations to the FDA to review the oversight of laboratory developed tests as they continue to play essential and formative roles in delivery of preventative care, diagnosis and disease management.
 

California health system picks Picis info management technology

Contracts & Installations | Tuesday, July 13 2010
Clinical and financial IT provider Picis has been selected by St. Joseph Health System in Orange, Calif., for its perioperative and anesthesia information management technology to be implemented across the system's 13 facilities and estimated 81 operating rooms.
 

Report: Medical imaging market recoups from recession

Industry News | Tuesday, July 06 2010
The medical imaging market earned revenues of $5.73 billion in 2009 and is estimated to reach $6.55 billion in 2012, as the market is expected to bounce back from declining reimbursements and effects of the economic downturn, according to a report from market research firm Frost & Sullivan.
 

Positron sells six Attrius PET scanners

Contracts & Installations | Tuesday, June 22 2010
Positron has sold four Attrius PET scanners to cardiology practices, which ordered six scanners from its joint venture, Neusoft Positron Medical Systems for immediate delivery.
 

AJR: Rads' interest in mammo waning

Top Stories | Thursday, June 03 2010
The negative and positive views of radiology residents regarding mammography appear to be independent of time spent training in mammography or of future plans to pursue fellowship training in breast imaging, according to the results of a study published in this month's American Journal of Roentgenology.
 

CMS posts payment increases for MPI codes

Top Stories | Tuesday, May 11 2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a technical correction to the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which results in payment increases for myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) codes—both SPECT and planar— for private practices, and the corrections are retroactive to Jan. 1.
 

UND offers physician practices assessment to cut operating costs

Industry News | Friday, May 07 2010
Due to the recent 2010 reimbursement rate cuts, University Nuclear and Diagnostics (UND), a nuclear lab management company, has recently launched a project specifically designed to bring about awareness to physician practices and hospitals in the U.S. of sorely needed solutions for reducing SPECT testing costs, and how to immediately implement them.
 

IOM makes recommendations for NCI cancer clinical trials

Industry News | Thursday, April 29 2010
The Institute of Medicine (IOM), the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, has published a report after reviewing the roles of the various stakeholders involved in cancer clinical trials across the U.S, and recommended a series of changes.
 

Virginia law expands access to telemedicine

Industry News | Wednesday, April 07 2010
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has signed into law a bill that will expand telemedicine coverage in the state by ensuring that health insurers cover and reimburse for healthcare services provided through telemedicine.
 

CMS to cover NaF-18 PET imaging only through evidence development

Top Stories | Friday, March 05 2010
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.
 

Report: Molecular imaging market valued at $5B; future of PET looks bright

Top Stories | Thursday, March 04 2010
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.
 

JACR: PET market grows among non-radiologists

Top Stories | Sunday, February 28 2010
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.
 

ACR launches online accreditation programs

Industry News | Tuesday, February 23 2010
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.
 

Survey: Providers look to health IT to mitigate reimbursement cuts

Industry News | Tuesday, November 17 2009
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.
 

Minnesota Web site offers price comparison shopping on healthcare

Industry News | Thursday, August 27 2009
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.
 

Report: Wireless telehealth may reduce U.S. healthcare costs

Industry News | Sunday, July 26 2009
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.

 

ACR members urge Congress against RBMs, utilization rate change

Industry News | Thursday, June 25 2009
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.
 

JACR: Outpatient interventional rad reimbursement plummets

Top Stories | Wednesday, June 17 2009
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.
 

Private sector vows to rein in healthcare costs

Top Stories | Thursday, May 14 2009
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.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

Radiology: Rad role may evolve as image-guided biopsies trend up

CT, ultrasound and MRI have helped shift biopsy techniques away from more invasive approaches toward image-guided percutaneous techniques, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology. The trend toward less-invasive approaches translates into enhanced safety and efficiency and could lead to more interaction between patients and radiologists.

CMS Webinar: Incentive payments to offset EHR adoption, not reimburse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) EHR incentive payments are not considered reimbursement for money expended on EHR technology, but are intended to offset the cost associated with adoption and ongoing meaningful use, according to CMS during an Aug. 12 webinar.

CMS webinar: Eligible professionals can expect EHR incentives in 2011

Funding incentives for EHR use is the main goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) meaningful use initiative, and there are incentive programs for both hospitals and eligible professionals, according to Elizabeth Holland, health insurance specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke during a CMS-sponsored webinar Aug. 8.

Webinar: Stage 1 of meaningful use is for quality reporting acclimation

Stage 1 requirements for meaningful use incentives aim to strike a balance between the overall goal of EHR use and widespread adoption, while avoiding added work, said Jonathan Teich, MD, PhD, chief medical informatics officer at Elsevier Health Services, during a HIMSS webinar titled “Meaningful Use: Safety and Quality of Care.”

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