LAS VEGAS, August 1, 2014 –Current economic factors have created many challenges for hospitals and medical providers, yet one radiology practice is defying the odds.  As Nevada’s largest provider of leading-edge diagnostic and interventional imaging, Las Vegas-based Desert Radiologists has emerged as one of the country’s largest and most successful private radiology practices.

TUSTIN, Calif., August 12, 2014 – Providing hospitals with resources and support to develop and improve patient care programs, AHRA: The Association for Medical Imaging Management announces the seventh year of its Putting Patients First Program. Putting Patients First grants enable healthcare facilities to fund programs, training or seminars aimed at improving patient care and safety and customizing treatment in CT, MR, Ultrasound, X-ray and Vascular imaging. The grants are funded by an unrestricted educational grant from Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.

The Senate confirmed Robert McDonald to head the Department of Veterans Affairs last week, just after congressional leaders put together a $17 billion funding bill to help reform the agency. 

In an NPR story, some professional societies and associations expressed concern over a new report from the Insitute of Medicine that calls for more accountability in the distribution of funding for medical graduate education. 

PAWTUCKET, RI – Rhode Island Medical Imaging (RIMI) recently committed to being a Presenting Sponsor at the Free to Breathe Run/Walk on October 19th at Slater Park in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.  Free to Breathe is a non-profit organization dedicated to doubling lung cancer survival by 2022.  Proceeds from this event will help fund lung cancer research, as well as develop tools for lung cancer patients to help navigate their disease and treatment options.

 Outpatient diagnostic imaging services are coming to northeast Las Vegas residents for the first time with the opening of the new Desert Radiologists office on Monday, July 28. The $2.5 million, 8,000-square-foot facility is located at 31 N. Nellis Blvd. in the Charleston Commons Shopping Center. It will be the only imaging center east of I-15 and U.S. 95.

The current physician piecemeal reimbursement model ultimately drives up the costs of healthcare according to Sandeep Jauhar, MD. In a New York Times editorial he explains that while overutilization is certainly a factor, cutting payments to physicians is a self-defeating strategy, forcing them to increase the number of patients they see, which reduces the amount of time spent with each one. Busy doctors call on others to help with the patient load, often times specialists who may order more tests, driving up costs. "There is no more wasteful entity in medicine than a rushed doctor," says Jauhar.  

He may have been preaching to the choir, but surgeon and thought leader Atul Gawande, MD, told a crowd at the Healthcare Financial Management Association’s annual meeting in Las Vegas that data and leadership from healthcare finance experts will have the biggest impact on improving the value of healthcare.