Dear AuntMinnie Member,
No one likes having to get preauthorization for imaging studies, but more payors are implementing preauthorization programs as a means of clamping down on imaging overutilization.
Now a legal opinion from the U.S. Office of Inspector General (OIG) may add new momentum to the preauthorization juggernaut, according to an article by staff writer Kate Madden Yee that we're featuring in our Imaging Center Digital Community.
The complex case involves a firm that hopes to offer preauthorization outsourcing -- in essence assuming the burden of obtaining preauthorization approval from payors. In an opinion issued last month, the OIG said that the firm's proposed business model does not violate federal antikickback rules.
What does it mean for you? For one, it could lead to a rise in preauthorization outsourcing firms -- and many imaging centers may have to go along with the trend or risk losing referrals. Find out why by clicking here.
Reports from ACRIN
In other news, we're featuring a pair of articles from the American College of Radiology Imaging Network's (ACRIN) fall meeting last week in Arlington, VA. Staff writer Eric Barnes was on hand to report on the latest results from the variety of research studies that ACRIN is currently overseeing.
In one study, ACRIN researchers found that breast MRI was superior to mammography for evaluating response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer -- click here for that story. Another study found that PET changed the management of cancer patients in more than a third of cases -- read all about it by clicking here.
