Senate bill sets utilization rate at 65%; robosurgical MRI; CAD for breast MRI

Dear AuntMinnie Member,

Radiology advocates in the U.S. appear to be making progress in blunting healthcare reform's potential financial impact on medical imaging. The bill released by the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday would set at 65% the equipment utilization rate used to calculate the technical component of Medicare reimbursement for imaging studies.

That's much better than the 90% rate in the original version of the Senate legislation, and it's also an improvement on the 75% rate proposed in the House of Representatives version. But 65% is still higher than the current 50% utilization rate and would therefore result in reduced Medicare payments for imaging services. Click here to learn more.

The Senate bill also contains a nasty surprise for medical device vendors: a tax designed to raise $4 billion annually starting next year. Find out what industry lobbyists are saying about that proposal by clicking here.

Robosurgical MRI

Meanwhile, we bring you a story of technological innovation from north of the border. Canadian researchers who developed an intraoperative suite that features a movable MRI scanner on ceiling rails are taking the next step by adding a robotic surgical element, according to an article in our MRI Digital Community by features editor Wayne Forrest.

MRI-guided robotic surgery could help clinicians work more effectively on small, difficult-to-reach targets such as tendons and arteries. To learn more, click here or go to mri.auntminnie.com.

CAD for breast MRI

Finally, in our Advanced Visualization Digital Community, we touch on the topic of computer-aided detection (CAD) for breast MRI exams. Senior editor Erik L. Ridley reports on how Dutch researchers used CAD software to improve the performance of radiologists reading 3-tesla breast MRI studies.

The researchers compared the accuracy of radiologists using the software to that of readers analyzing breast MRI kinetic curves with a manual technique. Find out what they discovered by clicking here, or visit the community at av.auntminnie.com.