How are radiology practices impacted by annual changes to the MPFS?
Conclusion
Understanding the annual changes in Medicare’s fee schedules is useful when analyzing areas where the practice’s revenue might be increasing or decreasing. Many commercial payers base their fees on the Medicare table, although not all of them make the same changes, or at the same time, as Medicare does. The same volume-weighted analysis technique can be applied to commercial fee schedules, as well.
Healthcare Administrative Partners will continue to keep you abreast of the Medicare payment system.
Sandy Coffta is vice president of client services at Healthcare Administrative Partners.
The comments and...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 29, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Sandy Coffta Tags: Economics Source Type: news
New imaging method shows oxygen movement in the brain
A new bioluminescence imaging technique appears to show movement of oxygen in the brain, according to research at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
The imaging technique studied in mice involves using a virus to deliver instructions to neurological cells called astrocytes and injecting a substrate called furimazine into the brain to generate light. While existing oxygen monitoring techniques provide information about a very small area of the brain, the researchers were able to observe, in real-time, a large section of the cortex of the mice.
The research is important because it opens doors for studying diseases...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 29, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: AuntMinnie.com staff writers Tags: Advanced Visualization Industry News Source Type: news
PET/MRI may improve diagnosis of Cushing disease
PET/MRI could become the diagnostic method of choice over MRI alone for identifying small pituitary tumors associated with Cushing disease, according to a study published March 21 in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
In patients diagnosed with the disease yet who had inconclusive MRI results, PET/MRI was positive in 100% of cases, noted lead author Ilanah Pruis, a doctoral student at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
“This multimodal imaging technique provides a welcome improvement for diagnosis, planning of surgery, and clinical outcome in patients with Cushing disease,” the authors wrote.
...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 29, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Will Morton Tags: Molecular Imaging Source Type: news
The Radiology Group CEO to pay $3.1M in false-claims case
The Radiology Group and its CEO Anand Lalaji will pay the U.S. and various states a combined $3.1 million to settle a federal civil fraud lawsuit over allegations that the company and Lalaji violated the False Claims Act.
In a statement, the U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of New York said the settlement resolves claims that The Radiology Group and Lalaji fraudulently billed federal healthcare programs through a process of signing off on interpretation reports prepared by contractors in India. The contractors were not permitted to practice medicine in the U.S. or bill federal healthcare programs.
The Atlanta-bas...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 29, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: AuntMinnie.com staff writers Tags: Industry News Administration Source Type: news
NYU Langone begins histotripsy for liver cancer
NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center is using histotripsy for some liver cancer cases, it said in a March 28 blog post.
Histotripsy uses focused ultrasound to deliver external beams intended to destroy cancerous tissue while leaving surrounding tissue intact. Histotripsy could become an option for patients who might otherwise be unlikely candidates for radiation or other ablation techniques, according to NYU Langone Health.
"This device allows us to offer ablation to patients who would normally not be good candidates," said Mikhail Silk, MD, an interventional radiologist at NYU Langone who performed the proced...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 29, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: AuntMinnie.com staff writers Tags: Industry News Source Type: news
Synthesis Health adds to installed base
Image management software developer Synthesis Health has implemented remote clinical diagnostic reading capability for RMG Imaging Consultants, a radiology group that serves Montebello Hospital in Montebello, CA. The software components overlay onto the existing PACS at Montebello Hospital, a 224-bed Adventist Health facility. The installation marks the six major implementation of Synthesis OS since it became commercially available in late 2023, according to the vendor. (Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines)
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 29, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: AuntMinnie.com staff writers Tags: Installations Source Type: news
Industry payments to radiologists total out at $392M
Out of 39 specialties, radiology was in the top third when ranked by industry payments to doctors over a nine-year period, according to an article published March 28 in JAMA.Between August 2013 and December 2022, 50% of 68,718 radiologists received industry payments totaling $392 million, lead author Ahmed Sayed, of Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt, and U.S. colleagues reported. The total for all U.S. physicians over the period was $12.1 billion.“Despite evidence that financial conflicts of interest may influence physician prescribing and may damage patients’ trust in medical professionals, such relationships remai...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 28, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Will Morton Tags: Practice Management Source Type: news
Cleerly touts Ischemia tech clinical results
Cleerly is touting study results regarding its Ischemia technology, published March 13 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging.The study describes the validation of Cleerly's AI-guided quantitative coronary CT angiography (AI-QCT) Ischemia technology for diagnostic accuracy and prognostic risk stratification. In two trials, the Credence and Pacific-1 studies comprised a total of 513 patients who underwent coronary CT angiography (CCTA), myocardial perfusion imaging with SPECT, and fractional flow reserve derived from CT (FFRCT).The company highlighted that for patients with an abnormal...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 28, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: AuntMinnie.com staff writers Tags: Industry News Source Type: news
RefleXion Medical, Limbus AI enter licensing agreement
RefleXion Medical and Limbus AI have signed a licensing agreement to incorporate Limbus’ automated contouring software, Limbus Contour, into RefleXion's X1 radiotherapy treatment planning system.
The integration will reduce the process of delineating the tumor target from surrounding critical organs and other healthy tissue. Limbus Contour uses clinically validated, deep-learning segmentation for radiation delivery to target areas and avoidance of organs at risk.
RefleXion's X1 with SCINTIXÒ technology is a dual-treatment modality radiotherapy platform that can treat patients with indicated solid tumors of any sta...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 28, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: AuntMinnie.com staff writers Tags: Industry News Source Type: news
Safeguarding the future of radiology with imaging informatics
Conclusion
With medical imaging centers facing aggressive attacks by the minute, it’s imperative to embrace a mindset shift – starting from cultivating a cybersecurity awareness culture to implementing proactive defense strategies and hiring experts with unique skill sets to help radiologists and department leads safeguard against cyber adversaries. Thus, with a collective approach to cybersecurity that combines people, mindset, and technologies, healthcare can win the war against cyberattacks.
Dhaval Shah is an executive vice president and Shujah Das Gupta is vice president for medical technology at CitiusTech.
The...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 28, 2024 Category: Radiology Tags: Cybersecurity Source Type: news
Patient access to imaging reports faster post-Cures Act enactment
A key provision in the 21st Century Cures Act has led to decreased time for patients to access imaging results, according to research published March 27 in the American Journal of Roentgenology.
Researchers led by Nelly Tan, MD, from the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, AZ, also found that after implementing institutional policies to comply with the act’s information-blocking provisions, more patients accessed their reports before the ordering provider did. However, the researchers cautioned that this could impact communication between patients and radiologists when discussing findings.
“Radiologists should consider mechanism...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 28, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Amerigo Allegretto Tags: Practice Management Administration Source Type: news
Spectral AI reports 2023 revenue decreases
Spectral AI posted decreases in its 2023 revenue.
For the fourth quarter of 2023, the company reported a revenue of $5.3 million, compared with $6.1 million for the same period in 2022.
Net loss for the fourth quarter of last year was $3.5 million, compared to a net loss of $1.7 million for the same time period in 2022. For the 2023 fiscal year, the net loss was $20.9 million, compared with a net loss of $2.9 million in 2022. Spectral said the net loss posted for 2023 included $8.3 million of nonrecurring transaction costs associated with the completion of the company’s Nasdaq listing, it said. (Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines)
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 28, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: AuntMinnie.com staff writers Tags: Industry News Source Type: news
SyntheticMR secures U.S. clearance for SyMRI 3D
Sweden-based company SyntheticMR has secured 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its SyMRI 3D software.
SyMRI 3D offers quantitative MRI capability for MRI brain imaging. The software enables volumetric estimations of brain regions, a technique commonly referred to as parcellation, which can provide clinicians insights into brain structure and function. Furthermore, the resolution provided by SyMRI 3D facilitates comprehensive lesion analysis, the company said. (Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines)
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 27, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: AuntMinnie.com staff writers Tags: Industry News Neuroradiology Source Type: news
Siemens secures FDA clearance for Terra.X
Siemens Healthineers has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its Magnetom Terra.X 7-tesla MRI scanner.
First showcased at RSNA 2022, Terra.X is a clinical 7-tesla system with eight-channel, parallel transmit architecture. It features what Siemens calls Ultra IQ technology – new hardware and software that has increased homogeneity and enabled a larger field of view, the company said. Ultra IQ is designed to exploit the resolution and contrast possible with 7-tesla scanning, according to the vendor.
Terra.X succeeds Siemens’ Terra clinical 7-tesla scanner, which was introduced in 2017. The FD...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 27, 2024 Category: Radiology Tags: Product News Source Type: news
MRI reveals effects of risk factors on vulnerable brain regions
MRI shows the effects particular risk factors such as diabetes, air pollution, and frequency of alcohol use have on "higher-order" brain regions located in the cerebral cortex, researchers have found.
A team led by Jordi Manuello, PhD, of the University of Oxford in the U.K. reported that these risk factors further increase an individual's vulnerability to conditions such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. The group's findings were published March 27 in Nature Communications.
"[Our] results provide a comprehensive picture of the role played by genetic and modifiable risk factors on these fragile parts of the brain...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - March 27, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Kate Madden Yee Tags: Subspecialties MRI Neuroradiology Source Type: news
