A dispute over poor patients’ access to radiology has been percolating in Connecticut since spring 2015, when the state’s general assembly voted to slash Medicaid payments to interpreting rads 42.5 percent. A recent review of claims filed in the wake of the cut has done little to settle the row.
On one side stands the state’s department of social services, which says the 2016 review actually showed an increase in utilization over the previous year.
On the other side is the Radiological Society of Connecticut, which points out the uptick is limited to hospital-based settings.
“To me that suggests that a decreasing number of Medicaid patients are being seen in outpatient radiology facilities, and that to me sounds like they’re having fewer choices,” Thomas Farquhar, MD, of the society tells the Connecticut Mirror.
Farquhar adds that utilization and access are not the same thing.
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Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.