Dear AuntMinnie Member,
A lot of news is breaking in MRI this week, and it's only Tuesday. Fortunately, you can get all the latest headlines in our MRI Digital Community.
First up is a story that confirms a suspicion long held by radiologists: that physicians who own or lease MRI equipment are more likely to order scans for their patients. A group from Stanford University found that MRI scans increased by 13% for self-referring orthopedic physicians, and even more for general practitioners.
What's more, orthopedic physicians' patients with low back pain who got scans were more likely to undergo back surgery within six months -- with no evidence that either the MRI scan or the back surgery improved patient outcomes. Read more by clicking here.
CMS loosens purse for pacemakers and MRI
In other news, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced a revision of its recently released policy on payment for MRI procedures in patients with pacemakers.
Just two months ago, the agency said it would only pay for MRI scans in patients with pacemakers if they were enrolled in clinical trials. Now CMS says it will pay if the patients have a pacemaker that's been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in an MRI environment.
The change was prompted by a request from device manufacturer Medtronic, which got just such an FDA approval in February for its Revo MRI SureScan pacemaker. Does the new CMS policy give Medtronic a leg up over other manufacturers? We'll have to see about that, but meanwhile you can read the news by clicking here.
Get these stories and more in your MRI Digital Community, at mri.auntminnie.com.
