Dear AuntMinnie Member,
In a blow to radiology, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) yesterday issued a proposed rule that would change the utilization rate for advanced diagnostic imaging equipment to 90%, up from the current 50% rate.
The CMS proposal could drastically cut reimbursement for the technical component of CT and MRI scans, and is at the higher end of several proposals floated by Congress and the Obama administration. Associate editor Kate Madden Yee reports on this development in a story you can read by clicking here.
Although the news from CMS bodes ill for radiology advocates, they continue to fight the good fight in pressing imaging's cause on Capitol Hill, which is weighing a series of healthcare reform and Medicare cost-cutting measures. To get up to speed, click here for an article by contributing writer Alexandra Weber Morales in our Imaging Center Digital Community.
How to buy a PACS
If you don't own a PACS, you'll need to get one soon. If you do own a PACS, chances are you'll need to replace it at some point down the road.
To help you in the PACS purchasing process, this week we present you with the latest installment in our Building a Better PACS series by industry consultant Michael J. Cannavo. The article walks you through the PACS process, giving you a step-by-step guide on what you need to look for when evaluating PACS software.
Mr. Cannavo expounds on a variety of topics, including his theory that PACS is like marriage: All the advance research in the world can't prepare you for what it's really like. Find out if you agree by clicking here.
In other news, if you still have long-term images stored on CDs, you might start examining other options, according to an article by senior editor Erik L. Ridley. A hospital that reviewed its own long-term data stored on CDs discovered a number of problems; they recommend that other sites with CD archives look at migrating their data. For that article, click here.
Get these stories and more in our PACS Digital Community at pacs.auntminnie.com.
