Imaging

The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) said that failure to delay the new medical device excise tax, along with Medicare cuts for imaging and radiation therapy services passed by Congress as part of the “fiscal cliff” package, will hinder patients’ access to early disease detection and therapy services and threaten American medical technology jobs.

The Washington, D.C.-based Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) has applauded members of Congress for voicing their concern about the significant cuts that have been made to Medicare reimbursement rates for medical imaging in a letter to House leadership led by Representatives Jim Gerlach (R-PA) and Gene Green (D-TX).

As Rebecca Grant, director of imaging services at the 625-bed Huntington Hospital, and her colleagues moved through the process of selecting a new PACS vendor, interoperability was the most important factor in their decision-making. Grant explains the various elements in a complex informatics imaging environment, and the factors that influenced her and her colleagues' important decision in this critical area.

As RSNA 2012 wound toward its close at Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center, the atmosphere this year seemed to be one of nervous anticipation, with many attendees looking for signs and signals of all kinds. For many in radiology and imaging informatics, the challenges seemed daunting. But could new technologies, intelligently implemented, be a part of a broader solution?

One of the more prominent conversation starters at this year’s RSNA Conference, sponsored by the Radiological Society of North America, and being held this week at Chicago’s McCormick Place, has been the apparent drop in attendance compared with last year, 2011. By Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 28, foot traffic on the exhibit floors was quite noticeably sparse in most places. But was this an actual drop-off in attendance, or only an apparent one?