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 | DIIR January 2010 (Full PDF Issue) |
| TOP OF THE NEWS
Imaging providers have much riding on Senate health reform debate
LEGISLATIVE/REGULATORY
House passes Medicare physician fee reform
Recommendations on mammography get chilly reception
Medicare to cover PET for cervical cancer
Medicare to phase in technical component cuts for imaging
Final outpatient rule for 2010 strengthens ties with quality
CMS delays policy halting payments to providers
EYE ON IMAGING
Radiologists’ salaries increase slightly in difficult year
BUSINESS/FINANCIAL
Wide-bore MR systems gaining in popularity
RadNet reports increase in procedure volume, revenues
Alliance revenues decrease in third quarter
Diagnostic imaging stocks fall 8 percent in last five weeks
MARKET SCANNER
Performance measurement key to radiology’s future
Full Article |
| Imaging Providers Have Much Riding on Senate Health Care Reform Debate |
| The Senate Nov. 30 began debate on a comprehensive health care reform bill that includes Medicare payment policy changes affecting diagnostic imaging providers.
Full Article |
| Demand for Radiologists Softens, But Salaries Up Slightly |
| While the demand for primary care physicians is far outpacing demand for specialists, compensation for radiologists actually increased slightly in 2008, according to a survey by the American Medical Group Association (AMGA).
Full Article |
| House Passes Medicare Physician Fee Reform |
| The House on Nov. 19 approved legislation (H.R. 3961) that would cancel a cut in Medicare physician fees due Jan. 1, 2010, and overhaul the annual fee update formula.
Full Article |
| Medicare to Cover PET for Cervical Cancer |
| Medicare will cover positron emission tomography (PET) scans for beneficiaries diagnosed with cervical cancer in order to determine the best therapy, under a final decision memo released Nov. 10 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Full Article |
| Recommendations on Mammography Get Chilly Reception |
| New mammography recommendations from a federal panel have been met with a backlash from radiologists and mammographers, with some leading experts on breast imaging saying the actions trivialize the 15 percent reduction in mortality for women under age 50 attributed to screening mammography.
Full Article |
| Medicare to Phase in Technical Component Cuts for Imaging |
| Medicare will phase in reimbursement cuts for diagnostic imaging over four years rather than implementing them immediately, a move that imaging groups believe may give them an opportunity to push for a rollback of the cuts.
Full Article |
| Final Outpatient Rule for 2010 Strengthens Ties with Quality |
| Most hospitals will receive an inflation update of 2.1 percent in their payment rates for services furnished to Medicare beneficiaries in hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs) under final changes to the hospital outpatient prospective payment system (HOPPS) for 2010.
Full Article |
| Eye on Imaging: Radiologist Salaries Increase Slightly in Difficult Year |
| Despite concerns that compensation for radiologists would hold steady or even drop in 2008, a new report from the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) shows that radiologist salaries actually increased slightly last year.
Full Article |
| Wide-Bore MR Systems Gaining in Popularity |
| While a third of health care providers plan to continue a freeze on all imaging equipment purchases in the midst of a tough economy, many more are once again looking to buy, with magnetic resonance (MR) equipment topping the list of planned purchases, according to a new report from KLAS.
Full Article |
| RadNet Reports Increase in Procedure Volume, Revenues |
| RadNet Inc. (Los Angeles) reported an overall increase in procedure volume in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the same period the previous year, with total volume rising 4.9 percent.
Full Article |
| CMS Delays Policy Halting Payments to Providers Who Are Not in Agency Database |
| The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said Nov. 23 that it will delay until April 5, 2010, implementation of a policy that would deny Medicare reimbursements to physicians and other Medicare Part B providers who are not in an agency database.
Full Article |
| Alliance Revenues Decrease in Third Quarter |
| Alliance HealthCare Services Inc. (Newport Beach, Calif.) reported that revenue for the third quarter of 2009 decreased 3 percent to $124.2 million from $128.1 million in the third quarter of 2008.
Full Article |
| Diagnostic Imaging Stocks Fall 8 Percent in Last Five Weeks |
| The 10 stocks in the G-2 Reports’ Diagnostic Imaging Index fell by an unweighted average of 8 percent in the five weeks ended Nov. 27, with three stocks rising in price, six falling, and one virtually unchanged.
Full Article |
| DIIR Market Scanner (January 2010) |
| A commitment to performance measurement is key to radiology’s future, according to Gary Becker, M.D., president of the Radiological Society of North American (RSNA).
Full Article |
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