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From The CEO

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.

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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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line Imaging Center Institute

Consulting and Marketing Services

We provide strategic business and marketing expertise to assist in the growth of your medical imaging enterprise.

Our clients include radiology practices, imaging centers, and hospitals in large and small markets across the country.

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Save the Date:

July 20, 2010 11am EST

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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

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Medical Management Professionals, Inc.

 

Webcast Archive

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RIS to the Rescue | Strategies for Driving Revenue, Productivity and Profitability

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Sectra

 

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Advanced Visualization | Next-generation Architectures

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Visage Imaging

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Fail-safe: Automating Critical-results Notification

Radinformatics | Dashboard Confessions | July 26, 2010

The radiology department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Boston, Massachusetts, created a policy for communicating critical and discrepant results after the Joint Commission made communications among caregivers a national priority for health-care providers. When the goal was expanded in 2007, the department took the next step and used IT to automate the process and to embed it into radiologist and referring-physician workflow.

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Studies Support Error Theory

Radiology Business Journal | NONE | July 07, 2010

Much of the evidence said to support the theory that radiology subspecialists make fewer mistakes than their generalist colleagues is anecdotal.

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Subspecialty Radiology: Beyond the Debate

Radiology Business Journal | Feature | July 07, 2010

While debate continues to swirl around the future of general radiology, the marketplace is clearly moving toward subspecialization and the real-world challenges that it presents.

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Effective Quality Assurance: Obstacles and Pointers

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Quality | June 16, 2010

As the radiology marketplace matures, becoming increasingly competitive, it’s more important than ever for practices to differentiate themselves based on quality, according to Peter Franklin, MD, chair of radiology for Radisphere National Radiology Group, Cleveland, Ohio.

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ACR Unveils Breast MRI Accreditation Program

ImagingBiz Newsletter | A Better Mousetrap | May 17, 2010

To enable imaging facilities to improve and maintain the quality of their breast MRI services, the ACR® has launched the Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging Accreditation Program (BMRAP).

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Tracking Patient Radiation Dose: IT Implications

Medical Imaging Review | Strategic Planning | April 16, 2010

In February, the FDA announced a new initiative to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure from CT, nuclear-medicine, and fluoroscopy exams.

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Deadline 2012: MRI Accreditation

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Quality | March 16, 2010

Under the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) of 2008, those sites providing the technical component of advanced imaging must have accreditation by 2012—but not all imaging centers are waiting for the deadline.

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An Urgent Case for Quality

Radiology Business Journal | Leadership | February 24, 2010

Gary Becker, MD, outgoing president of the RSNA, read members the equivalent of the riot act in his presidential address on November 29 in Chicago, Illinois, kicking off the 2009 meeting and jump-starting the quality-improvement movement in radiology.

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Engaging Physicians in Hospital Radiology Quality Initiatives

Medical Imaging Review | Leadership | January 26, 2010

The question of how to engage physicians in hospital quality initiatives “is one that many organizations are grappling with,” according to Albert Bothe, MD, chief quality officer for Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania.

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The Quest for Quality in Radiology

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Quality | January 18, 2010

With Quality Counts as its theme for 2009, the RSNA’s 95th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, obviously emphasized multiple aspects of quality assurance, control, and improvement.

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CT Radiation Dose on the Table

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Safety Watch | January 18, 2010

Long a point of concern in Europe, radiation dose has emerged as a key point of consideration for pediatric radiologists in the United States, particularly with the development of multidetector CT.

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All Eyes on Accreditation

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Quality | December 21, 2009

In July 2008, Congress passed the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA)

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Quality Control With A Custom Fit

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Quality | November 18, 2009

Less than a year ago, the radiology department at the Fletcher Allen Medical Center (FAMC), Burlington, Vermont, the hospital affiliate of the University of Vermont College of Medicine, was struggling with antiquated peer-review and quality-control (QC) methods.

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Cracking the Code for Improving Quality

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Quality | October 14, 2009

As the entire health care continuum comes under increased scrutiny in terms of both cost and effectiveness, radiologists and administrators alike have fresh cause to contemplate quality in the delivery of imaging services.

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MIPPA’s Impact on Imaging

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Legislative Report | September 10, 2009

At the 2009 annual meeting of AHRA: The Association for Medical Imaging Management in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 12.

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Radiology’s Role in Limiting Health Care–acquired Infections

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Quality | August 17, 2009

In a session at this month’s meeting of AHRA

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PQRI: Money on the Table

Radiology Business Journal | Practice Management | May 01, 2009

Medicare made more than $36 million in payments to more than 56,000 physicians who participated in the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative in 2007.

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Atlas Scanned

ImagingBiz Newsletter | The Big Picture | March 15, 2009

In trying to understand the current shift in economic and political winds, I thought it would be helpful to take a new look at a classic depiction of the US capitalist system, as portrayed in one of American fiction’s great works.

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The Push for Productivity

Radiology Business Journal | Feature | December 01, 2008

In an era of declining reimbursement for radiology, one practice is testing the limits of IT’s ability to improve productivity

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Packaging Versus Bundling: Let the Battle Begin

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Revenue Track | November 15, 2008

There are very important differences between packaged services and bundled services. Unfortunately, many people use these terms interchangeably, which may result in incorrect coding practices (and, potentially, in lost revenue for the organization).

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NightHawk Offers Model for QA

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Quality | September 15, 2008

It’s easy to let quality assurance (QA) slip into a lip-service category, but that is something that a nighttime stat-reading teleradiology service can’t afford to do—particularly if it is an industry leader like NightHawk Radiology Services.

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What is Quality Radiology?

Radiology Business Journal | Feature | September 01, 2008

The 1999 Institute of Medicine report To Err Is Human¹ brought the extent and severity of medical errors to the attention of policymakers, hospital administrative staff, and health care providers.

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Surveying Referrers Provides Valuable Guidance

ImagingBiz Newsletter | RadBrand Builder | August 15, 2008

During a client consultation via conference call last month, I was asked what other radiology practices are doing to deliver reports.

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Transforming the PACS Vendor Relationship

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Radinformatics | July 15, 2008

Radiologists at Yale University figuratively equate their PACS with a toolbox and themselves with artisans, from whose hands now spring forth remarkably useful pictures.

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Eight Ways to Motivate Your Practice Representatives

ImagingBiz Newsletter | RadBrand Builder | July 15, 2008

The proper care (and feeding) of your practice representatives is a process, not an event.

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Quality in Radiology: Science or Science Fiction?

Radiology Business Journal | Adview | June 15, 2008

In times of turmoil, I have always turned to science fiction. Hard science is, well, too hard for this intellect, and science fiction offers refuge when the world around is, as Wordsworth said, too much with us.

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What Radiology Can Do to Improve Its Health

Radiology Business Journal | The Bottom Line | June 15, 2008

Everywhere one looks, these days, there is uncertainty about the future of radiology.

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Creating a Blog That No One Will Read

ImagingBiz Newsletter | RadBrand Builder | June 12, 2008

A couple of years ago, the CEO of a $100-million company was presiding over a conference call with about 16 senior members of several divisions of the company.

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Issue Tracking for Image Quality Improvement

Radinformatics | Dashboard Confessions | February 15, 2008

Paul Nagy, PhD, is director of quality and informatics research and associate professor of radiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore.

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Improving Gadolinium-based Contrast Safety

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Radiology Business Journal | February 15, 2008

It is clear that gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCA) for MRI improve detection (sensitivity), characterization (specificity), disease staging, and diagnostic confidence levels. It has also become clear that nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) is associated with their use in patients with preexisting kidney disease.

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The Flat World Imperative

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Legislative Report | February 13, 2008

In a world where a radiologist in Bombay can interpret an x-ray from Buffalo, the Mayo Clinic’s Stephen Swensen, MD, maintains that quality is the only way to distinguish a radiology service.

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SIIM 2007 Report

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Legislative Report | June 12, 2007

The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM, formerly SCAR) met last week in Providence, Rhode Island. Some of the hot topics included the following:

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Radiation Dosage Monitoring in CT

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Legislative Report | May 15, 2007

Was it just a few years ago that potential to reduce exposure was one of the benefits touted for adoption of multi-slice CT?

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Gadolinium and You: Why Imaging Centers Should Be Concerned

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Legislative Report | May 15, 2007

The connection between gadolinium and the disease known as nephrogenic fibrosis syndrome (NFS) presents an urgent and immediate reason for imaging centers to amend MR policies, procedures, and protocols.

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Dose Awareness Movement Gains Steam

ImagingBiz Newsletter | Legislative Report | May 15, 2007

Efforts to raise awareness of radiation dose in medical imaging saw significant activity on three fronts this past month, suggesting that radiology may be mobilizing to raise awareness of the issue.

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The Case for Emergency Responder Magnet Safety, Part I

ImagingBiz Newsletter | NONE | November 15, 2006

You run a sound MRI operation with employees well trained in magnet safety, but have you ever thought about the scene following a fire alarm being pulled?

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