The Industrial-strength Imaging Executive
by Curtis Kauffman-Pickelle
Today’s medical-imaging profession is definitely not for the fragile and weak-kneed among our colleagues. It is becoming increasingly clear that navigating the constant changes and challenges that face the practice of radiology today will be the ultimate test of tenacity, perseverance, and creativity. We’re in the playoffs now, and the game is moving to the big-time arena—where the margin for error is nil.
Finger in the Wind
by Cheryl Proval
Physicians are in a real bind as fee-for-service reimbursement falls under attack and alternative payment methods (such as bundling and capitation) gain traction in Washington, DC. As of June 18, Medicare Part B claims were being processed with the 21.3% cut mandated by the sustainable growth rate’s formula, and House Democrats demanded legislation on jobs before they would pass the Senate bill to reverse the cut.
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Save the Date:
July 20, 2010 11am ESTTopic
Keep Your Hospital Relationships Healthy: Strategies for Every Practice
Presenters:
Randy Roat, CHBME, VP of Radiology, MMP, and George Ehrhardt, CPA, Director, Practice Management, MMP
Medical Management Professionals, Inc.
Topic
RIS to the Rescue | Strategies for Driving Revenue, Productivity and Profitability
Sectra
Topic
Advanced Visualization | Next-generation Architectures
Visage Imaging
Health Reform’s Impact on Imaging
Plenty remains unknowable about the incipient impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA), but the act does stand to affect imaging providers, specifically through its compliance, fraud, and payment provisions, many of which have already taken effect or will take effect in the near future.
A Health-reform Primer for Providers
Tie your laces and get into the game, because reform, as viewed by the president of Kaiser Permanente Southern California, will initiate a period of great experimentation in health-care delivery.
Finger in the Wind
Physicians are in a real bind as fee-for-service reimbursement falls under attack and alternative payment methods (such as bundling and capitation) gain traction in Washington, DC. As of June 18, Medicare Part B claims were being processed with the 21.3% cut mandated by the sustainable growth rate’s formula, and House Democrats demanded legislation on jobs before they would pass the Senate bill to reverse the cut.
When the Invisible Hand Meets an Immovable Object
In a coincidence worth noting, Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations was published in 1776, the year that our nation-to-be declared its independence from what was then the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Five Steps to a CER Project Portfolio
In a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Harold C. Sox, MD, chair of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee to set national priorities for comparative-effectiveness research (CER).
Comparative-effectiveness Research and Imaging: Insights and Ambitions
In addition to extending coverage to an estimated 31 million US residents, the recently passed HR 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Implications of Reform for Hospitals: Seismic or Subtle?
Hospitals are keeping a wary eye on Washington, and on several key payor trends with major implications for imaging service lines, for good reason.
Preparing for Potential Reform: The Hospital View
Some proponents of national health care reform expect to pop the champagne corks any day now in celebration of getting a bill through Congress.
Too Big to Understand
I just finished reading the new book about last year’s financial near meltdown, Too Big to Fail (Viking, 2009), by Andrew Ross Sorkin.
Window on 2010: Impact of Imaging-Specific Health Care Reforms
Since the dawn of the DRA at the close of 2005, health care observers have predicted a follow-on DRA II. It appears that this prediction will come to pass shortly after the clock strikes midnight on December 31.
Health Care Efficiency: No Miracle Cure
Health care reform ideas are everywhere these days.
Too Much Health Care?
Of all the issues facing today’s imaging executives and radiologists, none sounds more cacophonous than the nearly universal cry that the United States spends too much on its health care.
Radiology Braces for Change Ahead
Some US employees still enjoy Cadillac-style health plans in which little is paid out of pocket and coverage includes almost every health need, but health care costs for its workers helped send Cadillac maker General Motors into bankruptcy.
Adding Patient Value to Health Care
Harvard professor, best-selling business author, and management consultant specializing in competitive advantage Michael E. Porter, PhD, offers his free-market spin on health care reform¹ in the July 8, 2009, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Against the Sword of Damocles
Radiology will fare better under reform than in its absence; it is advisable to join the battle
The Demise of Reason (and Eating Crow)
When politics enters the health care debate, reason departs
Health Care Reform and Medical Imaging: The 10,000-foot View
The Obama administration is pursuing an aggressive timetable to deliver on a campaign promise to make affordable health care available to all US residents.
Radiology and the Culture of Money
Let’s get the full disclosure part out of the way right up front.
Health Care Tomorrow: A Revisionist Preview
Jeff Goldsmith predicts that, despite inevitable changes, the future of health care is more sound than many people believe.
Health Reform’s Shortest Era
He came. He saw. He vanished. Just as we health care journalist types were lining up the margins and checking references on our various predictions of what Tom Daschle would bring to the health reform debate and process, he bequeathed his White House office to his deputy in waiting.
Health Care Delivery, Undisrupted
How to afford health care is not the question we should be asking in these times of unsustainable health care cost increases.
