Recent Posts

President Obama targets self-referrals and pre-authorization

on April 12, 2013  |  Permalink  | Comments (2)

Topics: Utilization Review, Payer Relations, Reimbursement, Finance, Medicare, Payer and Regulatory Policy, Revenue Cycle, Imaging, Service Lines, Referral Management, Physician Issues, Utilization, Efficiency, Performance Improvement

Ben Lauing, Imaging Performance Partnership

President Obama’s proposed budget may signal major reforms in store for imaging. Self-referral, an issue often debated but rarely acted upon, is now an explicit target; the Obama administration has proposed restricting the in-office ancillary services exception to the Stark law. Furthermore, the budget suggests mandatory pre-authorization for advanced imaging modalities.

While this is only a proposed budget, and Congress could take it or leave it, we think it’s highly likely that regulations to curb imaging utilization will soon emerge.

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President Obama targets self-referrals and pre-authorization

Three tactics to improve physician comprehension of incidental findings

on February 27, 2013  |  Permalink

Topics: Imaging, Service Lines, Quality, Performance Improvement, Process Improvement, Efficiency, Care Coordination, Methodologies, Care Management

Ben Lauing, Imaging Performance Partnership

One of our members recently asked us about communicating incidental findings to referring physicians. As many of you have raised this topic, I thought I would share a few case studies we’ve uncovered during our research on quality in imaging.

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Three tactics to improve physician comprehension of incidental findings

How did your imaging volumes measure up in 2012?

on February 25, 2013  |  Permalink

Topics: Around the Nation, Imaging, Service Lines, Utilization, Efficiency, Performance Improvement, Volume Growth, Strategy, Service Line Growth

Shaun Lillard, Imaging Performance Partnership

In the past few years, we’ve heard increasing concern from members about volume volatility in imaging. While we do predict modest increases in imaging volumes across 5 and 10 year time frames, declines are occurring in some modalities from one year to the next. Therefore, helping you understand national trends in imaging volumes has become one of our top priorities each year.

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How did your imaging volumes measure up in 2012?