Health Imaging & IT - March 2008 - (Page 8)

NEWS UPDATE Government Watch Supreme Court protects FDA-approved medical devices from lawsuits The U.S. Supreme Court, in an 8-1 ruling, said federal medical device regulations trump state product-liability lawsuits unless the medical device company violated FDA policy. The opinion affirms a lower court ruling barring a lawsuit against Medtronic and makes it harder for individuals to sue medical-device companies over faults or failures of a device that has been approved for use by the FDA. While cases involving heart pumps, drug-eluting stents, and artificial hearts are still pending, it is not immediately clear how many of the thousands of suits against medical device makers will be affected, though some pending cases will almost certainly be nullified.  EYE ON THE FEDERAL BUDGET No more imaging cuts in 2009 Medicare budget; physicians payments to shrink President Bush’s 2009 budget proposed unprecedented reductions in Medicare spending for non-physician providers, but did not propose cuts specifically targeted to diagnostic imaging services. Bush called for reductions to CMS’ budget by $16 billion in 2009. The American College of Radiology said, however, that the current budget baseline reflects shrinking payments for physician services in the fee-for-service program.  Bush addresses healthcare IT in State of the Union In his final State of the Union address, President George W. Bush said IT adoption is critical in transforming the current healthcare system. “To build a future of quality healthcare, we must trust patients and doctors to make medical decisions and empower them with better information and better options,” Bush said in the first 10 minutes of his address. He also focused on consumer choice, not government control, to bring value to U.S. healthcare. His “value-driven healthcare plan” calls for EHRs and the reporting quality measures as a means of cutting costs and bringing transparency to a struggling healthcare system. [ Source: whitehouse.gov ] Budget office seeks to curtail healthcare technology spending The use of technological advances in developing new medicines and treatments has caused increased healthcare spending and should be curbed to reduce costs, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). In the report, CBO defined technological advances broadly to include any changes in clinical practice that enhance the ability of providers to diagnose, treat or prevent health problems. CMS eliminates chiropractor x-ray exception Radiologists can no longer order x-rays for Medicare patients referred to them by chiropractors in a non-hospital setting. The 2008 Medicare Fee Schedule Final Rule eliminated the chiropractor x-ray exception, which allowed non-treating physicians like radiologists to order diagnostic tests to identify a subluxation of the spine at the request of a chiropractor.  R.I. senator urges healthcare reform, IT adoption Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., urged his colleagues to implement healthcare IT legislation, calling for more federal support of healthcare IT adoption, coupled with quality measure improvements and supportive reimbursement policies. Whitehouse said that a significant healthcare cost problem exists with only two general ways of coping with it—either raise taxes or cut healthcare benefits to the population. J&J’s Cordis recalls balloon catheters Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary Cordis has recalled certain balloon catheters after the FDA determined the products could lead to a heart attack, surgery or death. Cordis said the Class 1 recall, the most serious type of recall, affects its Dura Star RX PTCA and Fire Star RX balloon catheters. The products were manufactured in Mexico from February to December 2007 and distributed worldwide from March 26, 2007, through Jan. 8, 2008. 8 Health Imaging & IT | March 2008 FDA greenlights ﬁrst drug-eluting stent in 3+ years The FDA approved the first new drugeluting stent since 2004, Medtronic’s Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting coronary stent system to be used in the treatment of coronary artery disease. Endeavor’s FDA submission included seven studies, the largest body of scientific studies ever submitted to FDA for a new drug-eluting stent. The trial had a four-year follow up. STAY CONNECTED: For daily news, log onto HealthImaging.com HealthImaging.com http://HealthImaging.com http://HealthImaging.com

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Health Imaging & IT - March 2008 Table of Contents On the Web The Enterprise: Communicating Better News Update Critical Test Results Management: The Human Touch The Changing Face of the Cath Lab Cardiovascular CT: A Clinical Boon Cardiology PACS: Solutions to Fit Your Needs ACC 08: Building Quality & Value Together Picking the Perfect PACS Displays PET/CT: A Game-Changer in Cancer Patient Management DR: You Gotta Have IT – Delivering Speed, Efficiency, Savings Laser Imagers: Answering the Call for Hard Copy Reader's Resources Stat Sheet

Health Imaging & IT - March 2008

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