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 | DIIR August 2008 (full PDF issue) |
| TOP OF THE NEWS
CMS to delay payment of physician claims
Changes to 2009 physician fee schedule proposed
REGULATORY
SNM protests reclassification of radiopharmaceuticals
Groups urge CMS to cover CT colonography
RESEARCH/TRENDS
Study questions quality at physician-owned facilities
MRI procedure growth slowing to 3 percent per year
EYE ON IMAGING
Salaries fastest growing expense in budget, finds survey
BUSINESS/FINANCIAL
CDI acquires four outpatient imaging centers
Eastern European market spurred by private funding
Mindray gets clearance for DC-3 color ultrasound
InSight exits San Fernando Valley market
Diagnostic imaging stocks fall 15 percent in last 4 weeks
MARKET SCANNER
New PET brain scanner holds great potential
Full Article |
| CMS Proposes Changes to 2009 Physician Fee Schedule |
| The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on June 30 announced proposed changes to the Medicare physician fee schedule (MPFS) for 2009. The proposed rule would cut payments to physicians by 5.4 percent unless Congress acts to reverse the cuts before Jan. 1, 2009.
Full Article |
| Payment of Physician Claims to Be Delayed Pending Congressional Action on Pay Cut |
| Physician claims under Medicare will not be processed during the first 10 business days of July, pending Congressional action to address a 10.6 percent Medicare pay cut that took effect July 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said June 27.
Full Article |
| Study Questions Quality at Physician-Owned Facilities |
| A new study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides additional proof that referrals to physician-owned hospitals, surgery centers, and imaging facilities have increased considerably in the past decade, resulting in higher utilization of services.
Full Article |
| SNM Protests Reclassification of Radiopharmaceuticals |
| The Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM), which opposes Medicare reimbursement policies for diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals, is calling for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to reform the way it pays for them.
Full Article |
| Groups Urge CMS to Cover CT Colonography |
| The American College of Radiology (ACR), the Society of Gastrointestinal Radiologists (SGR), and the Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance (SCBT-MR) are urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to cover CT colonography.
Full Article |
| Survey: Salaries Fastest Growing Expense in Budget, Providers Prefer to Buy New Equipment |
| Employee salaries and expenses have bypassed the cost of upgrading and maintaining diagnostic equipment as the fastest growing expense in imaging providers’ budgets, indicate results of Washington G-2 Reports’ Second National Diagnostic Imaging Survey.
Full Article |
| MRI Procedure Growth Slowing to 3% Per Year |
| The number of MRI procedures performed in the United States increased 14 percent between 2003 and 2007, from 24.2 million to 27.5 million, for an average annualized rate of 3 percent per year, according to new data from market research firm IMV. This represents a slowdown in procedure growth compared to the beginning of the decade when the average annual growth rate was about 15 percent per year.
Full Article |
| CDI Acquires Four Outpatient Imaging Centers |
| The Center for Diagnostic Imaging (CDI; Minneapolis) has acquired four outpatient diagnostic imaging centers—three in Indianapolis and one in Columbus, Ohio. CDI purchased the centers from American Health Imaging (AHI), which has decided to exit the Indianapolis and Ohio markets.
Full Article |
| Eastern European Equipment Market Spurred by Private Funding |
| Public hospitals in Eastern Europe are increasingly approaching private finance service companies to gain financial autonomy, allowing them to invest in medical imaging equipment. These Private Financing Initiatives (PFIs) are raising investment capital and therefore improving the outlook for existing medical imaging modalities markets, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan.
Full Article |
| InSight Exits San Fernando Valley Market |
| InSight Health Services has sold its final diagnostic imaging center located in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California to RadNet Inc.
Full Article |
| Mindray Gets FDA Clearance for DC-3 Color Ultrasound |
| Mindray Medical International Limited (Zhenzhen, China) has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its DC-3 color ultrasound imaging system. The system has already received approval from Chinese and European authorities.
Full Article |
| Diagnostic Imaging Stocks Fall 15% in Last 4 Weeks |
| The 10 stocks in the G-2 Report’s Diagnostic Imaging Index fell by an unweighted average of 15 percent in the four weeks ended June 20, 2008, with five rising and five falling. Since the beginning of the year, the index has fallen by 70 percent. In comparison, the S&P 500 has dropped 10 percent, and the Nasdaq composite has dropped 9 percent.
Full Article |
| New PET Brain Scanner Holds Great Potential |
| Evaluations of the first-ever prototype positron emission tomography (PET) brain scanner that uses semiconductor detectors indicate that the scanner could advance the quality and spatial resolution of PET imaging, according to researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s 55th Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans June 14-18.
Full Article |
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