Imaging Leaders Digital Community
SalaryScan data reveal gender gap between U.S. radiologists
 May 22, 2013 -- Male radiologists make an average of 20% more than female radiologists in the U.S., according to new salary data from AuntMinnie.com. While the salary advantage for men is in line with the U.S. average for all professions, it could reinforce the perception that radiology is an unfriendly career choice for women.
RBMA: How to restructure your imaging center
 May 21, 2013 -- At no other time in history has there been such rapid change in healthcare -- particularly in radiology, according to a May 21 talk at the Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA) meeting. To thrive in such an environment, imaging centers need to understand the options for restructuring their business.
Key to clinician interaction? Location, location, location
May 16, 2013 -- Want more personal interaction with your referring physicians? Try moving your reading rooms out of the basement and into clinical areas. A new study in the Journal of the American College of Radiology found that such "embedded" reading rooms resulted in a big jump in personal visits from clinicians.
Technologists' CT training called woefully inadequate
May 15, 2013 -- CT might be the mainstay of medical imaging, but the basic curriculum for radiologic technologist training hardly mentions the modality, and training centers that do teach it are few and far between, according to a talk on May 10 at the Virtual Symposium on Radiation Safety and Computed Tomography.
California's breast density notification law -- 1 month in
 May 9, 2013 -- It's been just over 30 days since California's version of breast density notification legislation went into effect. How is the law affecting clinical practice in the state's breast centers? Although they are complying, many breast imagers are skeptical of its value.
ED trumps hospital inpatient as source for imaging referrals
May 7, 2013 -- Today's radiologists are reading more imaging exams from emergency departments (ED) and fewer from hospital inpatient departments than radiologists 10 years ago, according to a new study published online in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
Health Affairs: Healthcare slowdown is saving U.S. money
May 6, 2013 -- The recent slowdown in the growth of healthcare costs in the U.S. could be a sign of long-term trends rather than a result of the recession, according to a new research paper in Health Affairs. If the hypothesis is correct, it could mean that the U.S. could save as much as $770 billion in Medicare spending over the next 10 years.
JACR: Radiology 'citizenship' key to specialty's health
 May 2, 2013 -- Saying it's time for radiologists to give back, a new article in the Journal of the American College of Radiology calls on medical imaging professionals to recognize their responsibility to protect their specialty. The authors believe this concept of "citizenship" is key to defending radiology against future threats.
MICI Q2: Confidence low in Medicare payment rates
 April 30, 2013 -- Radiology administrators are confident that their internal costs will remain constant and their practices will maintain or increase growth in the coming months, according to Medical Imaging Confidence Index (MICI) data. But they're not so sure they'll receive adequate reimbursement from Medicare for diagnostic and interventional imaging.
Mary's Musings: An x-ray jacket -- the radiology wiki that was
 April 29, 2013 -- Mornings were rough, but Sylvia was right there with a cup of coffee, just the way I liked it. That was pretty special, a mark of importance, because she didn't bring coffee to just anyone -- after all, she was the linchpin of the radiology department. Why? She ran the file room.
ARRS: Take care in setting up peer-review programs
April 16, 2013 -- WASHINGTON, DC - Most radiologists polled in a recent survey agree that peer review is an important component of any quality assurance initiative. But most would rather see peer review conducted anonymously, according to a study presented Monday at the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) annual meeting.
President's 2014 budget takes on self-referral
April 11, 2013 -- In its 2014 budget plan released April 10, the Obama administration has directly targeted self-referral, proposing that certain imaging services be excluded from the in-office ancillary services exception to the federal Stark law. Unfortunately, the budget also proposes prior authorization for imaging services.
Higher credentials needed to change sonographers' image, pay
April 10, 2013 -- NEW YORK CITY - To many, sonographers are just ultrasound techs -- with their sophisticated skills underappreciated, undervalued, and underpaid. It's important for the profession to work to make changes. This was the wake-up call delivered during a presentation at this week's American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine annual meeting.
JACR: Work efficiencies slim when scans read by different rads
April 10, 2013 -- Little to no physician work efficiencies exist when different providers interpret different imaging scans on the same patient, according to a new study published online April 9 in the Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR).
JACR: MRI use has slowed
April 8, 2013 -- The overall Medicare MRI utilization rate has slowed since 2008, due in part to policymakers' focus on reducing unnecessary healthcare costs -- and radiologists' efforts to educate their colleagues on appropriate imaging use, according to a new study published online in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
Imaging centers hit with surprise 30% cut for MRI codes
April 5, 2013 -- The American Taxpayer Relief Act in January averted the planned 26.5% cut to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, but it didn't prevent reimbursement for two "bread and butter" MRI codes from being slashed by 30%. Some freestanding imaging centers are only now becoming painfully aware of the cut.
RF ablation for elderly NSCLC patients offers cost benefits
April 5, 2013 -- Radiofrequency (RF) ablation is a practical treatment for elderly patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are poor candidates for surgery, according to a study published in the April issue of the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology.
Massive Gamma Knife payment cut starts April 1
April 1, 2013 -- It may seem like an April Fools' Day joke, but it's a painful reality for users of the Gamma Knife radiation therapy system from Elekta. Starting April 1, they will be paid 58% less for procedures performed with the system.
New Texas radiation rule takes effect May 1
March 28, 2013 -- Hoping to avoid the rash of radiation overexposures that shook California radiology like an earthquake a few years back, the state of Texas has decided to implement its own radiation exposure rule beginning May 1.
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