Health Imaging & IT - November 2007 - (Page 14)

N E W S U P D AT E GOV ER N M EN T WATC H House passes new version of SCHIP The U.S. House of Representatives in late October passed (265-142) a new version of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) overhaul. The revised legislation came one week after the House failed to override President Bush’s veto of the original bill by 13 votes. The new version graduates childless adults, in some states, out of the program quicker and limits the eligibility for families above the poverty level. Also, this version of the program would be funded by a cigarette tax increase, which Bush opposes. The White House issued a statement that President Bush “will veto this legislation if it is presented to him without significant changes.” Bush said the proposal is still too costly and would be a step toward socialized healthcare. The current funding extension for SCHIP expires in mid-November. Bush passes FDA reform bill President Bush signed legislation reforming several FDA regulatory processes and increasing its use of information technology. The law mandates that the Department of Health and Human Services establish an identiﬁer on medical devices labels. It also expands the services of an existing clinical trials registry data bank, by demanding it is made public via the internet. The online database will give physicians and patients information on clinical trials and enable enrollment. House considers new healthcare IT bill Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., recently introduced H.R. 3800, the Promotion of Health Information Technology (HIT) Act, which proposes an accelerated adoption of HIT to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the U.S. healthcare system. “The Promotion of Health Information Technology Act will ensure that the federal government will foster the development and implementation of advanced health IT networks and technologies in our country,” said Eshoo, a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. The bipartisan Promotion of HIT Act will increase the deployment of HIT by streamlining the adoption process of interoperability standards. The bill, which has been referred to the Energy and Commerce Committee, requires the government to follow standards, and authorizes funding for nationwide adoption. Hospitals to receive CMS rate increase in 2008 U.S. hospitals will get a rate increase next year from the CMS for inpatient services for Medicare beneficiaries. Hospitals that participated in the “reporting hospital quality data for annual payment update” program will receive the full rate increase of 3.3 percent. Hospitals not participating or not meeting the requirements for reporting the quality measures will receive a 1.3 percent rate increase. Committee clears health IT bill for the House The House Science and Technology Committee has passed health IT legislation, H.R. 2406, authored by Representative Bart Gordon, D-Tenn. The bill authorizes the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to create guidelines for integrating IT into an interoperable health IT system to maintain patient healthcare records in the United States. FDA ISSUES CONTRAST AGENT WARNINGS The FDA in October issued two calls for box warnings on labels of contrast agents for MRI and cardiac ultrasound. The FDA has asked manufacturers of all gadolinium-based MRI contrast agents to include a warning intended for severe kidney insufficiency patients. The warning should state that these patients are at risk for developing a debilitating and potentially fatal disease, nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF). It also should state that patients in the process of liver transplantation, or those with chronic liver disease, also are at risk for developing NSF if they are experiencing kidney insufficiency. The FDA also has posted its strictest warning, the black-box label, for Definity, a Bristol-Myers Squibb cardiac ultrasound contrast agent. Bristol-Myers said they would notify healthcare professionals about the warning: “serious cardiopulmonary reactions, including fatalities, have occurred during or within 30 minutes following Definity administration.” 14 N O V E M B E R 2 0 07 | Health Imaging & IT Siemens 1.5T MRI system gains FDA 510(k) clearance Siemens Medical Solutions has received 501(k) clearance from the FDA for its 1.5 Tesla Magnetom Essenza, a high-field MRI system. The new system is priced almost $500,000 less than other 1.5T systems. STAY CONNECTED: For daily news, log onto HealthImaging.com HealthImaging.com http://HealthImaging.com http://HealthImaging.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Health Imaging & IT - November 2007

Health Imaging & IT November 2007 RSNA 360 Table of Contents Table of Contents On the Web: HealthImaging.com The Enterprise: Imaging & IT = Knowledge News Update RSNA 360: Technology Previews RSNA 360: PACS RSNA 360: PACS Peripherals RSNA 360: Reading Services RSNA 360: Voice Recognition & Reporting RSNA 360: Furniture RSNA 360: CT RSNA 360: Molecular Imaging RSNA 360: Advanced Visualization RSNA 360: MRI RSNA 360: Ultrasound RSNA 360: Health IT RSNA 360: Cardiac Imaging RSNA 360: Digital X-ray RSNA 360: Women’s Imaging RSNA 360: CAD RSNA 360: Data Storage & Archiving RSNA 360: Displays RSNA 360: Oncology Imaging PACS & the EHR: Users Love the Link Lung CAD: A Power Tool in the Imaging Toolset Special Section: RIS/PACS: Efficiency Gains through Integration Fine-Tuning Breast Imaging Workflow Peace of Mind: Long-term Archives that Deliver QA in Medical Displays: Two Approaches CPOE: Wonders in Workflow Emergency Imaging in Flux Reader's Resource Stat Sheet

Health Imaging & IT - November 2007

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