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The Big Picture
We’ve Seen This Movie Before
By Curtis Kauffman-Pickelle
 I know many radiologists who are trying—desperately, in some cases—to see how their group practices can fit neatly within what will eventually be defined as accountable-care organizations (ACOs). I say eventually because I have seen no true outline of how an ACO will work in real time, in the real world, or in any organization with which I have come in contact. I take that back: If the Mayo Clinic or the Cleveland Clinic were to declare itself the definitive ACO model, then perhaps I have seen one up close.
The point is that unless you are one of these or part of a similar clinic, vertically integrated health system, or multidisciplinary group practice, it is pretty difficult to envision how your group practice could be classified as an ACO, as the concept is currently being defined. Ultimately, the government, as is always the case, will add to the already mind-bending complexity of the basic idea of a provider taking ultimate responsibility (and risk) for the complete health care of individual patients. It is a good and noble idea. It is worthy of discussion as to how to accomplish best the bringing together of different physician specialists to care for the whole patient. It even makes financial sense to find a way to cross over turf lines to find a better way to spend the health-care dollar to the benefit of the patient.
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State of the Specialty: Imaging’s Research Crisis
By Cat Vasko
 Radiology has been in the regulatory crosshairs for almost six years, ever since the DRA eliminated billions in reimbursements for imaging—and the profession can expect the trend to continue, if it doesn’t invest in research now. That’s the contention of Christoph I. Lee, MD, a UCLA Robert Wood Johnson Foundation clinical scholar, and Howard P. Forman, MD, MBA, professor at Yale University, in a May 2011 American Journal of Roentgenology article.¹ They argue that as evidence-based medicine becomes a federal mandate through health-care reform, radiology will find itself unable to demonstrate its value sufficiently without a renewed commitment to health-services research.
“We have a target on our backs because imaging is expanding at such a rapid pace,” Lee says. “If we can’t prove that our imaging services have value for patient care, we won’t be able to fight against things like the DRA.” Lee cites the recent attention to CT radiation exposure as an example of the specialty’s inefficacy at defending itself. “We haven’t been able to lead the charge, even though we’re sounding the alarm,” he says. “We just don’t have the manpower working on these issues.”
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Physician Compensation: New Complexities and Trends
By Cat Vasko
 
The current trend toward hospital–physician integration has renewed the focus of leaders on both sides on developing fair, sustainable physician-compensation plans. On March 21, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois, at the Congress on Healthcare Leadership of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), three speakers, Timothy J. Cotter, Ralph DeJong and Thomas Nantais, presented “Best Practices for Physician-compensation Governance and Strategy.” They addressed emerging trends in physician compensation (as well as best practices gleaned from prior experience in structuring these arrangements).
Timothy J. Cotter, managing director of Sullivan, Cotter and Associates, Inc (Chicago), began the presentation by noting that approximately 40% of primary-care physicians and 25% of specialists in the United States are currently hospital employed, and the means by which these employed physicians are compensated are evolving as a result of health-care reform.
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Strategic-planning Meetings for Radiology Groups: Best Practices
By Chip Anderson, CPA
 In today’s challenging business environment, it is more critical than ever before that radiology groups engage in strategic planning. Ironically, the same factors that make strategic planning so necessary to a group’s survival also make it difficult to dedicate resources to the process. Those practices that do carve out the necessary time will see their efforts pay dividends in the future. Though the process can be challenging, the application of best practices (based on experience) can significantly augment its effectiveness.
Strategic-planning sessions should take place during a period of time that has been reserved for this purpose alone; groups that attempt to tack strategic planning onto the end of scheduled board meetings, for instance, will see business-critical issues given short shrift.
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Medical-image Archiving: Concerns, Methods, and Emerging Solutions
By Cat Vasko
It’s no secret that health-care IT professionals are struggling to keep up with the storage demands placed on them by medical imaging. As imaging utilization continues to increase and the amount of data associated with a single image set continues to rise, maintaining a patient’s radiological history (as mandated by HIPAA) becomes more costly and challenging for health-care organizations. A survey of 568 health-care IT professionals conducted in Orlando, Florida, at the February 2011 meeting of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) assessed how organizations are dealing with these problems and whether they are open to embracing emerging solutions in storage management.
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Technology Development to Meet Market Needs: A Conversation With Mark Silverman
By Cat Vasko
On April 14, 2011, Hitachi Medical Systems America, Inc (Twinsburg, Ohio), announced the FDA approval of its first 64-slice CT system, SCENARIA™. ImagingBiz.com spoke with Mark Silverman, manager of CT marketing for Hitachi, about the company’s goals for the new product and the assessment of the current CT marketplace that drove its design. ImagingBiz.com: SCENARIA is Hitachi’s first 64-slice CT scanner. What made the company decide to introduce this technology now? Silverman:
Hitachi has sold and shipped more than 12,000 CT scanners, around the world, for the past 30 years, but they’ve all been in the lower-slice category. What made us decide to launch this 64-slice system, which is a higher level of technology for us in CT, is the fact that through our experience in MRI, we have a strong understanding of the needs of the radiological buyer. We felt this technology was needed to address certain needs in the marketplace better.
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HHS: Few Uninsured Patients Can Afford Hospital Bills
Few families without health insurance have the financial assets to pay potential hospital bills, reveals a new report released today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). On average, the report says, uninsured families can only afford to pay in full for approximately 12% of hospital stays they may experience-bills that account for just 5% percent of the total amount invoiced.
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SWI Serves As Powerful Tool For Characterizing Infarctions
Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) is a powerful tool for characterizing infarctions in patients earlier and directing more prompt treatment, according to a study presented last week at the annual meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) in Chicago.
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AMA President Urges Medicare Physician Payment Reform
American Medical Association (AMA) President Cecil B. Wilson, MD yesterday testified before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, urging Congressional leaders to reform the “deeply flawed” Medicare physician payment formula. Also known as the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), the will trigger a drastic physician payment cut of nearly 30% on January 1, 2012.
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Report Questions Clinical Advantages Of Stereotactic Radiation Therapy
Despite the widespread use of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for treating tumors in the body, its theoretical advantages have yet to be confirmed clinically, reveals a report that appeared yesterday in the online edition of Annals of Internal Medicine.
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JUNE
SIIM 2011
Sponsored by the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine
June 2–5
Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center
National Harbor, Maryland
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2011 Radiology Summit
Sponsored by the RBMA
June 5–8
Hilton New Orleans Riverside
New Orleans, Louisiana
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International Symposium on Multidetector Row CT
Sponsored by the International Society for Computed Tomography
June 13–16
Hyatt Regency
San Francisco, California
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AUGUST
AHRA 2011 Annual Meeting and Exposition
Sponsored by AHRA: The Association for Medical Imaging Management
August 14–17
Gaylord Texan
Grapevine, Texas
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