Health Imaging & IT - November 2008 - (Page 14)

neWs UpDATe Government Watch CMS ramps ups fraud, waste prevention; launches national RAC program The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has initiated the first of several aggressive new steps to find and prevent waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare with the launch of a national recovery audit contractor (RAC) program. The agency is consolidating its efforts with new integrity contractors that will look at billing trends and patterns across Medicare, focusing on companies and individuals whose billings for Medicare services are higher than the majority of providers and suppliers in the community. CMS said it is also shifting to fighting fraud by working directly with beneficiaries. BUsiness BUZZ Nuance buys Philips Speech Recognition for $95M Royal Philips Electronics has sold its speech recognition business, Philips Speech Recognition Systems, to Nuance Communications for approximately $95 million in cash. Siemens wins $52.3M PET/CT patent suit, Philips ﬁles another A jury in the U.S. District Court of Delaware has found that Saint-Gobain Ceramics & Plastics infringed Siemens Medical Solutions’ patent rights concerning scintillator crystals used in PET/CT machines. The jury has awarded Siemens $52.3 million for the unintentional infringement. In separate PET/CT patent-related news, Philips Healthcare confirmed that it filed for patent infringement against Siemens, accusing the company of infringing a patent for technology used in various imaging systems, including PET/CT. Cost of ICD-10-CM conversion dependent on facility size The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA)—which has contended that the proposed ICD-10-CM code set would be too costly for quick adoption— could gain increased support for its argument with a report from Nachimson Advisors that estimates the cost to small, medium and large practices. The U.S. government has proposed implementing the codes by October 2011, a deadline the MGMA describes as unworkable and expensive. FDA issues new draft guidance for imaging drugs, devices The FDA is seeking public comment on a draft guidance for medical imaging devices with contrast agents or radiopharmaceuticals that focuses on developing new contrast indications for imaging device use with already approved imaging products. The recommendations in the guidance are intended to promote timely and effective review of, as well as a consistent regulation and labeling for, imaging drugs and devices. Public comments on the draft guidance can be submitted until Jan. 5, 2009. DoJ intervenes in whistleblower suit against McKesson The U.S. Department of Justice has intervened in a lawsuit against several companies, including McKesson, alleging that they submitted false claims to Medicare arising from illegal kickbacks and the establishment of sham durable medical equipment suppliers. cLinicAL sTUDies NEJM: Single CAD reading could replace double mammo readings Single reading with computer-aided detection (CAD) could be an alternative to double reading and could improve cancer detection rates from screening mammograms read by a single reader, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. There were no significant differences between the pathological attributes of tumors detected by single reading with CAD alone and those of tumors detected by double reading alone, the researchers said. Ultrasound contrast gains a champion with new society A new international and crossdisciplinary professional society, the International Contrast Ultrasound Society (ICUS), has been formed, devoted to overcoming challenges in the field of contrast ultrasound and increasing its role in improving patient care worldwide. Radiology: CTA is less costly than MPI SPECT The utilization of CT angiography in individuals without known coronary artery disease results in lower healthcare costs than myocardial perfusion imaging with SPECT for this cohort, according to research published in Radiology. The team’s retrospective analysis found that unadjusted downstream coronary artery disease-related healthcare costs were lower for CTA than MPI SPECT at 1 month ($1,572 vs. $2,531), six months ($3,052 vs. $4,082) and one year ($3,542 vs. $4,605). STAY CONNECTED: for daily news, log onto Healthimaging.com—and sign up for Health imaging news. 14 Health Imaging & IT | november 2008 Healthimaging.com http://www.Healthimaging.com http://www.Healthimaging.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Health Imaging & IT - November 2008

Health Imaging & IT - November 2008 Table of Contents On the Web The Enterprise News Update RIS/PACS Speech PACS Peripherals Advanced Visualization CT DR & CR CAD Molecular Imaging MRI Ultrasound Healthcare IT Furniture reading Services Cardiac Imaging Data Storage & Archiving Displays Oncology Imaging 3T MRI Flexing its Muscle Breast Imaging Workflow: Optimum Efficiency & Beyond Enterprise Long-term Storage: Plan for the Worst, Hope for the Best LCD Monitors Sharpen Soft-copy Mammography Defining Lung CAD’s Role Digital Endoscopy: Challenges for Enterprise Imaging Reader's Resource On the Frontline: CT in the ED

Health Imaging & IT - November 2008

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