Obama gets VC; mediation radiation hearings; HIMSS news

Dear AuntMinnie Member,

Virtual colonoscopy may not be good enough for Medicare reimbursement, but it is good enough for the president of the U.S.

In an ironic twist, President Barack Obama received a virtual colonoscopy exam as part of his annual presidential physical -- just over a year after the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) denied extending VC coverage to regular Medicare beneficiaries.

Obama's physicians had a number of reasons for having Obama undergo the virtual exam rather than a conventional screening based on optical colonoscopy. Find out what they were by clicking here, or visit our Virtual Colonoscopy Digital Community at vc.auntminnie.com.

Medical radiation hearings

Meanwhile, the issue of rising exposure to medical radiation rose to a crescendo last week as the U.S. Congress held hearings on the topic. Associate editor Cynthia E. Keen filed a two-part series on the hearings, which you can read in our Radiation Oncology Digital Community.

For the most part, representatives of the radiology and radiation therapy societies who testified at the hearings struck the right note -- more regulation is needed of the medical uses of radiation, even if that includes mandatory requirements. In fact, some congressional lawmakers were pleasantly surprised at the call for stronger rules.

But the question is what comes next. Members of the House of Representatives subcommittee in which the hearings took place said they need more information on the issue before they could contemplate legislation to remedy the problem.

Read our coverage by clicking here and here, and be sure to check back as we monitor this fast-moving story.

HIMSS news

Finally, Ms. Keen is on the ground in Atlanta, reporting on the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual meeting. Check out our coverage of the show in our Healthcare IT Digital Community, at healthcareit.auntminnie.com.

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