News

Bob Still RBMA 2024

The noted radiologist discussed what's ahead for the specialty during the closing keynote at RBMA's annual meeting in Las Vegas. 

stroke brain dementia alzheimer's puzzle mental health

The California physician may not face prison time after all, if a judge grants his defense team’s request that he be admitted to a mental health diversion program. 

Christina Negron, CPPM, CPC, CIRCC, RCC, CIC, revenue cycle manager, Radiology Associates of Venice and Englewood (RAVE), Florida, discusses revenue challenges and staffing issues in medical imaging during the Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA) 2024 meeting. #RBMA #RBMA24 #RBMA2024

Christina Negron, revenue cycle manager, Radiology Associates of Venice and Englewood, discusses possible solutions at the RBMA 2024 annual meeting.

noncompete contract clause employment pen sign

Radiologists took to social media Wednesday to discuss what the FTC final rule will mean for physicians and other healthcare stakeholders. 

William T. Thorwarth ACR American College of Radiology

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association licensee is attempting to curtail the delivery of multiple diagnostic imaging exams on a single patient during a single healthcare encounter. 

Humana

The Louisville, Kentucky-based payer first partnered with vendor Cohere Health in 2021 to launch a pilot program in 12 states. 

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Others including the AMGA and the American Hospital Association have voiced their opposition to the rule, which is expected to be challenged in court. 

overnight night shift attending radiologist burnout. A new policy statement from the American College of Cardiology highlights the importance of career flexibility—including the ability to change hours or work responsibilities when necessary—for cardiologists of all ages. 

Younger providers also are taking on these temp jobs to "test drive" different practice settings earlier in their careers, according to AMN Healthcare. 

Recent years have seen the venerable chest X-ray built upon with new technologies, screening programs and educational techniques. As a result, today’s thoracic imaging may be a humble herald of things to come across radiology.  

Example of artificial intelligence generated measurements to quantify the size of a lung cancer nodule during a followup CT scan to see if the lesion is regressing with treatment. This type of automation can aid radiologists by doing the tedious, time consuming work. Photo by Dave Fornell

Here is a list of some key trends in radiology technology from our editors based on our coverage of the radiology market.

There have been a big increase in interest in cardiac CT following the publication of the 2021 ACC Chest Pain Evaluation Guidelines, which raised CT angiography (CTA) to a 1A level of evidence. This has prompted many centers to consider creating CTA programs. This is a cardiac patient being set up for a CCTA scan at Duly Health and Care in the Chicago suburbs. The healthcare group opened one of the first out-patient cardiac clinics in the country with a dedicated cardiac CT scanner.

As of last fall, 35% of radiologic technologist educators seeking to place prepared students in open jobs were still hampered by the operational effects of COVID-19. Fortunately, that figure was a far cry from the 98% who reported placement trouble in the spring of 2020.

Accelerated MRI with AI image reconstruction nearly halved orthopedic scan times while maintaining or even improving image quality in a newly published prospective study. 

Around the web

The California physician may not face prison time after all, if a judge grants his defense team’s request that he be admitted to a mental health diversion program. 

According to the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, 21% of all healthcare bankruptcies in 2023 involved organizations owned by financial firms.

The two companies have partnered on a new FDA-cleared CT injection system for the early detection of breast cancer.