The Veteran’s Administration has clarified the scope of authority granted to advanced nurses in a rule originally published in April, adding language that clarified their ability to analyze images. The American College of Radiology (ACR) praised the clarifications, saying, “The ACR commends the VA for maintaining a collaborative, integrated, physician-supervised approach to imaging care.”

As expected, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) was a hot topic at RSNA 2016 in Chicago. There were sessions that explained it, writers who covered it, and attendees throughout McCormick Place were talking about it all week. Heck, I’d say MACRA was the most buzzworthy thing to hit Chicago all year, but the World Series-winning Cubs probably still top that list. 

Teaching leadership skills should be done through a radiologist’s residency, allowing those reluctant to lead to get comfortable and make some mistakes in a more protected environment.

The Internal Revenue Service is moving toward a more flexible approach when evaluating contacts between tax-exempt entities—such as many hospitals—and private, for-profit entities such as radiology groups.

The FDA is stepping up its focus on quality assurance in breast imaging by adding three questions to their annual Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA) inspections, starting in 2017. Radiology administrators should be aware of these changes, but they don’t have to feel blind-sided by them—the FDA won’t issue citations for violations until 2018.

The legislative impact of a Donald Trump presidency is hard to predict, but it certainly muddles the future for some healthcare legislation, according to Chris Sherin, Director of Congressional Affairs at the American College of Radiology.

CMS released its final ruling on the 2017 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) at the beginning of November, and radiologists will benefit from the changes.

Mary Mahoney, MD, spoke with imagingBiz about what life is like as a department chair and shared her thoughts on several hot topics affecting breast imaging today.