June/July 2017

I visited the great city of Chicago back in April for RBMA’s PaRADigm annual meeting. It was a terrific conference overall, but one moment in particular stands out.

As a collectively key component of the Affordable Care Act, accountable care organizations (ACOs) entered the present decade looking poised to enjoy a long and dominant run in the driver’s seat of U.S. healthcare economics. Many providers—not just primary-care “gatekeeper” docs but specialists too—had the sense they’d better join, align with or otherwise befriend an ACO if they wanted to remain enduringly relevant and maximally reimbursable. Today, the buzz is centered on CMS’s Quality Payment Program (QPP), with its MACRA and MIPS alphabet soup hogging the spotlight.

Over the last 10 to 15 years, awareness of the risks of radiation exposure in medical imaging and efforts to reduce dose have escalated exponentially. Imaging equipment vendors have answered the call with dose-reducing strategies that include more sensitive image receptors, better image reconstruction techniques, dose alerts and post-processing software. Radiologists, technologists and physicists have been hard at work as well, edging down dose without compromising image quality. So where do we stand? Are we as low as we can go or is there more that can be done?

For nearly 30 years, gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) have been used to aid diagnosis in clinical MRIs and have been considered safe for patients without severe renal insufficiency. Recent studies have shown that traces of gadolinium may be retained in a patient’s brain after use, however, sparking a firestorm of passionate debate.

I have experienced medical imaging from a perspective that is a bit out of the ordinary, spending my Sundays working on NFL sidelines. The fast-paced, physical world of professional football has taught me a great deal over the years, and I like knowing that I am making a difference in the lives of these athletes.

In the ever-changing landscape of anti-kickback regulations, a new rule is in the mix that imaging providers should understand. While there is no such thing as a free lunch, a free ride is legitimate when it comes to transporting patients and even a helper to imaging exams. This action is key to opening up access to more patients, as long as providers follow the regulations closely.

Gender diversity matters. According to research from more than 350 global public companies by McKinsey & Company, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity were more likely to have financial returns above the national median. In the United States, the correlation between gender diversity and improved revenue performance is strongest once women constitute at least 22 percent of a senior executive team.1 Gender diversity within an organization can increase revenue by improving recruiting methods, customer orientation, employee satisfaction and decision making. Increasing gender diversity in radiology, a specialty in which women are currently grossly underrepresented, offers an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage in the healthcare marketplace.

AHRA’s annual meeting was held in Nashville, Tenn., in 2016, but this year, it’s trading in cowboy boots and country music for sunshine and that cartoon mouse with the famous laugh. AHRA President Jason Newmark, CRA, took a break from making final preparations for AHRA 2017 in Anaheim, Calif., to speak about some of the biggest issues impacting both the present and future of radiology.