Dear AuntMinnie Member,
We start the week off with coverage from the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) annual conference, with staff writer Wayne Forrest on the scene in Washington, DC, filing daily reports.
In our lead story, researchers from Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, CT, presented the results of several studies examining the risks involved in CT radiation dose. They assessed dose in patient groups from four different age ranges, and also analyzed which types of CT scans produced the highest yield of positive diagnoses relative to radiation dose delivered. That article is available by clicking here.
In another story, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, report on the causes of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF), a debilitating skin and joint disorder linked to gadolinium-based MRI contrast media. The researchers analyzed several factors believed to be linked to the development of NSF, but were unable to find a statistically significant causal relationship with most of them. Read all about it by clicking here.
Finally, regulatory expert Thomas Greeson offers his perspective on whether the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is really serious about cracking down on physician self-referral in a story you can read by clicking here.
$7 million fraud deal
In other news, a radiologist who runs a group of imaging centers in Florida has agreed to pay the U.S. government $7 million to settle charges of healthcare fraud. The Department of Justice charged that the radiologist's firm allegedly paid kickbacks to referring physicians, billed for exams that weren't performed, and ordered studies that weren't medically necessary.
U.S. prosecutors say the case is an example of the government's determination to punish what it sees as fraud and abuse in the nation's healthcare system. The imaging firm, on the other hand, says the charges are emblematic of how the confused nature of U.S. healthcare law can ensnare even those with the best intentions.
Whose side do you come down on? Read more by clicking here, or find the story in our Imaging Center Digital Community.
