Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Medicare payments for CT of the abdomen and pelvis have taken a massive plunge in the past few years, and researchers from Thomas Jefferson University think they know why.
A research group led by Dr. David C. Levin and Dr. Vijay Rao analyzed Medicare records and found that overall payments for the scans have fallen 29% since 2011. That was the year the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) bundled previously separate codes for abdominal and pelvic CT scans into a single code.
The effects have been wide-ranging, contributing to a 3% reduction in all payments for noninvasive diagnostic imaging from 2010 to 2011, the authors noted in an article we're featuring in our CT Digital Community. In fact, Drs. Levin and Rao believe the change could have a greater effect than better-publicized reimbursement changes such as the recent increase in the equipment utilization rate.
Medical imaging continues to be squeezed by federal bureaucrats, sometimes in ways that aren't readily visible to the radiology community, the researchers concluded. Learn more about the study by clicking here.
In other news, read a report from the Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR) meeting in Montreal last week, where appropriate imaging was the subject of debate. Dr. James Fraser of Dalhousie University believes that radiologists in Canada should seize the opportunity to champion appropriate imaging. Learn more by clicking here.
Patient portal pitfalls
In another talk at the CAR meeting, Dr. Ella Kazerooni from the University of Michigan discussed the pitfalls and rewards of patient portals, which enable patients to view their own medical images.
Such portals represent a double-edged sword, she believes. On the positive side, they can help radiologists improve their visibility with patients -- which everyone in the radiology community believes is vital to the specialty's survival.
But if they are not constructed properly, patient portals can disintermediate radiologists from the care process by cutting them out of communication to the patient in favor of the referring physician. Learn more about Dr. Kazerooni's thoughts on portals by clicking here, or visit our PACS Digital Community at pacs.auntminnie.com.
CESM in Egypt
Finally, visit our AuntMinnie Middle East section for an article on how contrast-enhanced spectral mammography (CESM) is being used in Egypt.
Researchers from the country compared CESM with breast MRI to see how well it detected lesions that were difficult to find on conventional mammography.
Not only was CESM comparable to MRI in most categories of diagnostic performance, it has advantages such as lower cost of ownership and ease of use. Read more by clicking here.
Also in the community, read about new findings regarding Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) that further support a link between the disease and infected camels. Click here to learn more, or visit middleeast.auntminnie.com.
