Dear AuntMinnie Member,
How much will the trade war between the U.S. and China cost the medical equipment industry? A new analysis is out, and radiology stands out as one of the biggest losers.
The U.S. government's tariffs on medical equipment imported from China will cost the healthcare industry overall an estimated $400 million annually, according to the new analysis published by policy think tank American Action Forum (AAF). Radiology is one of the areas where tariffs will strike a heavy blow, adding $44.6 million to the cost of x-ray components and $33.7 million to the cost of CT scanners. Costs will also rise for other imaging modalities.
What's more, the AAF predicted that these higher costs will be passed on to healthcare providers and, ultimately, patients. The greatest burden will be borne by patients with no health insurance or those with high-deductible plans, according to the group.
Read our article by clicking here, and stay tuned for new developments in this evolving story.
Radiology escapes Medicare cuts
The cost of tariffs is the bad news this week. The good news is that radiology has largely escaped major cuts to reimbursement under the proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2019, released yesterday by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
The new reimbursement schedule includes no changes in reimbursement rates for radiology and interventional radiology. Nuclear medicine would see a 1% decline, while radiation oncology would get a 2% haircut.
Perhaps more significantly, CMS is also proposing a variety of regulatory changes designed to roll back some of the paperwork burden created by the agency's push toward value-based care under the Obama administration. Find out what they are by clicking here.
Radiation dose to women
Finally, be sure to check out our story on a new article published this week in Radiology that has disturbing implications for younger women undergoing medical imaging scans with modalities that use ionizing radiation.
Researchers from Stony Brook University found evidence that women are more susceptible to radiation when they undergo imaging at the midpoint of their menstrual cycle, based on radiopharmaceutical uptake during PET scans. They believe the phenomenon could help explain why women are believed to be at higher risk than men of developing radiation-induced cancers.
The findings could indicate that new guidelines are needed for the use of radiation-based imaging modalities in women of reproductive age -- particularly for studies that use radiopharmaceuticals, according to the researchers. Read more by clicking here, or visit our Molecular Imaging Community at molecular.auntminnie.com.
