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RadRounds Radiology Network's Blog – June 2009 Archive (21)

ACR Cardiac CT Certificate of Advanced Proficiency Exam

ACR Launches Cardiac CT Certificate of Advanced Proficiency Exam

Reston, Va. — On Sept. 9, 2009, the American College of Radiology (ACR) will offer the inaugural Cardiac CT Certificate of Advanced Proficiency (CCT CoAP) Examination open to all physicians who meet the requisite eligibility requirements and professional experience qualifications.

The rigorous examination, to be offered on a quarterly basis, will be given at the new ACR Education Center, the cutting-edge… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 30, 2009 at 5:15pm — No Comments

KLAS Top-Performing Medical Equipment Companies Announced

OREM, Utah – Jun 15, 2009 – Healthcare research firm KLAS today released its annual rankings of the best-performing medical equipment vendors. Top-ranked companies in seven key market categories – including computed tomography (CT), digital mammography, smart pumps and ultrasound – have earned the 2009 Best in KLAS distinction, signifying their leadership in meeting customer expectations.

Based on evaluations submitted by thousands of healthcare providers throughout the United States… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 29, 2009 at 8:30am — No Comments

ACR Members Urge House Rural Caucus Against Use of RBMs in Medicare and Change in Equipment Utilization Rate at Capitol Hill Briefing

ACR members Cassandra Foens, M.D., medical director of radiation oncology at Covenant Cancer Treatment Center in Waterloo, Iowa, James P. Borgstede, M.D., vice chair of radiology at the University of Colorado, and Michael M. Graham, M.D., Ph.D., vice chair of radiology and director or nuclear medicine at the University of Iowa, urged members of the U.S. House of Representatives Rural Caucus against using radiology benefits managers (RBMs) in the Medicare system and against a proposed imaging… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 27, 2009 at 10:00pm — No Comments

New iPhone Radiology App: SonoAccess from Sonosite

iPhone applications for radiology and medicine are currently being developed by numerous device manufacturers, medical equipment vendors (in radiology and beyond), and healthcare organizations. iPhone appears to be winning significant market share from physicians, radiologists included, as well as other healthcare and medical professionals! In this article, we will feature one example of innovation on the iPhone platform within radiology. A number of… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 25, 2009 at 1:58pm — No Comments

ACR Education Center Celebrates One Year Anniversary

ACR Education Center Celebrates One Year Anniversary

More Than 800 Physicians Attend Radiology’s “Classroom of the Future” in First 12 Months

Curriculum to Expand in the Year Ahead

Reston, Va. — On June 20, 2009, the American College of Radiology Education Center, “radiology’s classroom of the future,” marked the completion of a tremendous first year of operation. During the first 12 months, the state-of-the-art Center enabled more than 800 physicians to… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 23, 2009 at 12:00pm — No Comments

ACR PET Core Laboratory Plays Critical Role in Insuring Reliable Research Results

PET Core Laboratory Plays Critical Role in Insuring Reliable Research Results

Philadelphia (6.19.09) — The positron emission tomography (PET) core laboratory of the American College of Radiology Clinical Research Center serves a critical role ensuring images and image data from PET scanners used in multicenter clinical trial research meet acceptable standards according to a paper published online June 12 in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. This finding was based on a review of the… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 22, 2009 at 12:13pm — No Comments

IMAGE GENTLY CAMPAIGN NAMED TO ASSOCIATIONS ADVANCE AMERICA HONOR ROLL

IMAGE GENTLY CAMPAIGN NAMED TO ASSOCIATIONS ADVANCE AMERICA HONOR ROLL

(JUNE 22, 2009) – The Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging has been named to the 2009 Associations Advance America Honor Roll in recognition of its Image Gently campaign.

The award, sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAO), recognizes the ways nonprofit associations improve the quality of life in America. It honors innovative programs in education, skills… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 22, 2009 at 12:11pm — No Comments

CMS and PQRI: CMS Announces List of Qualified Registries for 2009 PQRI

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced the list of qualified registries for 2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) reporting. Each of these registries has gone through a thorough vetting process to check their capability to provide the required PQRI data elements, ensure correct calculation of reporting and performance rates, and complete transmission of the required information in the requested file format. There are a total of 74 qualified registries… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 21, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

RBMA Data on Reimbursement for Advanced Imaging

(WASHINGTON, DC) - According to the Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA), "Actual imaging use far below president's recommended 95 percent utilization rate for Medicare Based on Medicare reimbursement assumptions, rural imaging centers operate equipment at a 48 percent rate"

President Obama and MedPAC (Medicare Payment Advisory Commission) are working to use a 95% utilization rate in the calculation of radiology reimbursement rates. Based on this latest data, 95% is… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 19, 2009 at 5:43pm — No Comments

Prevent Imaging Cuts: Message from the ACR - Call Your Senator TODAY and Urge Them to Oppose More Imaging Cuts

The pending Senate Finance Committee health reform legislation is expected to contain deep cuts to medical imaging via a change to the practice expense imaging equipment utilization rate assumption for MR and CT from 50 percent to 95 percent. MR and CT procedures will be cut anywhere between 5 percent and 40 percent, in addition to the cuts already put in place by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

Please call both of your Senators and ask that they oppose these drastic reductions.… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 19, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

Medicare Fraud Scam Alert! Urgent Notice from the ACR

FROM THE ACR:

URGENT! Beware of Fraudulent Medicare Faxes

ACR has learned that some physicians’ offices in various states have received faxes from individuals who impersonate representatives of Medicare Fiscal Intermediaries (FI’s) or contractors. The faxes claim that the physicians may risk losing Medicare reimbursement -- unless their offices complete a survey questionnaire or provide an update of their account information within 48 hours and return it via fax to… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 17, 2009 at 1:08pm — No Comments

Obama Healthcare Address - Weekly YouTube Video - Health Care Reform as the Key to Our Fiscal Future

SATURDAY, JUNE 13TH, 2009 AT 12:00 AM

Weekly Address: Health Care Reform as the Key to Our Fiscal Future

Posted by Jesse Lee

The President has long noted that skyrocketing health care costs will be disastrous in terms of our long term national debt unless we pass real reform. In this Weekly Address, the President also explains how he will cover the upfront costs of reform by eliminating overpayments from Medicaid and Medicare and driving down costs contributing to… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 15, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

AMA Obama Address - At 12:15 Today, Obama addressed the American Medical Association (AMA)

(CHICAGO - June 15th, 2009) - The American Medical Association Annual Meeting had a special guest speaker and lecturer, President Barack Obama. As part of his extensive campaign to win the hearts and supports of the largest medical group in the United States, Obama spoke to the AMA constituency which included all specialties of medical practice, including the growing representation of radiology within the AMA.

Obama mentioned key points:

- Importance of Electronic Medical… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 15, 2009 at 12:33pm — No Comments

Radiation exposure and cancer risk from CT scans (Harvard Medical Video)

An interview with Dr. Aaron Sodickson, a radiologist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Sodickson's research was the subject of an article in the March issue of the Harvard Health Letter. This video was featured on YouTube and demonstrates in addition to the importance of the content of the video that social media and online video sites are also tools where radiologists can educate the… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 13, 2009 at 8:30pm — No Comments

ACR Resident and Fellow Section E-News

IN THIS ISSUE

* 17th Annual RFS Meeting and 86th AMCLC

* "Getting Started" Handbook

* Welcome Your New 2009-2010 RFS Executive Committee

* RFS Web site Update

* Call to Action: Heart of Radiology

* 2009-2010 ACR Fellowships

* MRI Teaching File - Submit Cases, Earn Money!

* Submit Your Images for RadiologyInfo and Win $100

17th Annual RFS Meeting and 86th AMCLC

A record number (185) of residents and fellows from across… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 12, 2009 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Obama and Radiology: Congressmen Send ACR Backed Letter to Obama: No More Arbitrary Imaging Cuts

On June 11, 2009 57 members of Congress sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him “to reject arbitrary cuts to imaging services or changes to the utilization rate assumption.”

The letter was circulated to members on Capitol Hill as a joint effort by the American College of Radiology (ACR), the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), and the Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC).

The letter highlights the value that medical imaging brings to the… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 11, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

SIIM Resident Scholarship, New Investigator Travel Award Winners Attend

Resident Scholarship, New Investigator Travel Award Winners Attend

SIIM 2009 Annual Meeting in Charlotte, NC

June 1, 2009 – Leesburg, VA – The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) has announced the recipients of the 2009 Resident Scholarship Awards and New Investigator Travel Awards.

SIIM Resident Scholarship Award winners receive complimentary meeting registration and travel expense reimbursement to attend the SIIM 2009 Annual Meeting in Charlotte, NC,… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 10, 2009 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Merge Healthcare Continues Standards-Based IT Toolkit Innovation with MergeCOM-3

Merge Healthcare Continues Standards-Based IT Toolkit Innovation

MergeCOM-3™ supports the latest DICOM and HL7 standards for comprehensive interfacing

MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Merge Healthcare (NASDAQ: MRGE), a provider of health IT solutions, today announced the release of MergeCOM-3 version 4.0, which incorporates the latest updates to the DICOM standard, as well as new interfacing capabilities using the HL7 standard. In health IT software development, DICOM provides… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 9, 2009 at 11:04am — No Comments

ACR Image Metrix™ Enables Pharma and Biotech Companies to Employ Dynamic Contrast Enhanced MRI in Drug Discovery and Development

ACR Image Metrix™ Enables Pharma and Biotech Companies to Employ Dynamic Contrast Enhanced MRI in Drug Discovery and Development

American College of Radiology (ACR) Image Metrix,™ a leader in imaging trial design, techniques, data extraction, management and analysis, has successfully implemented dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) in clinical research for drug trials and stands ready to assist pharmaceutical and biotech companies to appropriately… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 7, 2009 at 4:44pm — No Comments

ACR Launches National Mammography Database

ACR Launches National Mammography Database

Reston, Va. — In July 2009, the American College of Radiology (ACR) will launch the National Mammography Database (NMD), the newest addition to the National Radiology Dose Registry (NRDR), a warehouse of ACR registry databases that compiles data to allow radiology facilities to compare themselves to other facilities regionally and nationally according to facility type.

The NMD — which is based on BI-RADS® — will allow… Continue

Added by radRounds Radiology Network on June 7, 2009 at 4:43pm — No Comments