Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Fresh off its victory in killing a bid to raise the equipment utilization rate, the radiology community is once again dealing with a proposal that could drastically cut Medicare reimbursement for advanced imaging procedures.
This time, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing to cut reimbursement by 50% for the professional component of advanced imaging exams that are provided to the same patient on the same day by the same physician. Called the multiple procedure payment reduction (MPPR), the proposal is based on the belief that such exams are more efficient to provide and, thus, should be reimbursed at a lower rate.
But imaging advocates dispute this contention, citing new research that indicates that such efficiencies are actually far lower than government estimates. Learn more about the debate by clicking here for an article in our Imaging Leaders Digital Community.
AECL deal ignores moly plight
In other news, the Canadian government announced last week the proposed sale of assets in its beleaguered Atomic Energy of Canada (AECL) company to a Canadian engineering firm.
But the deal doesn't include AECL's National Research Universal (NRU) reactor, which is the source of a significant proportion of North America's supply of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). Molybdenum is a precursor to technetium-99m, one of the most widely used radioisotopes for nuclear medicine procedures, and a shutdown of the NRU reactor severely constricted Mo-99 supplies from 2009 to 2010.
It's still unclear what's going to happen to the NRU reactor, which for now will remain under the control of the Canadian government. But officials in the Canadian government have made no secret of their desire to exit the nuclear reactor business. Learn more by clicking here, or visit our Molecular Imaging Digital Community.
New AuntMinnieMobile upgrade
Everybody has smartphones these days, which can help us all stay informed about late-breaking news and developments.
With that in mind, we're pleased to announce a new upgrade to our AuntMinnieMobile service. We think you'll find the redesigned service easier to use and navigate than the older version, with more content as well.
To get started, just point your smartphone's Web browser to m.auntminnie.com. You can also search on "AuntMinnie" in the BlackBerry app store to find an app to download directly to your BlackBerry smartphone. iPhone users can learn how to add a shortcut to their phone in our user guide, available by clicking here.
Do you have an idea for making AuntMinnieMobile better? Let me know at [email protected].
