MIPPA: Are You Accredited Yet?
MAY 2011 | On the first day of 2012, private outpatient imaging centers providing MRI, CT, PET exams and nuclear medicine procedures will need accreditation for Medicare to reimburse for the technical component under Part B of the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, as required by the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA).
Are providers ready?
We asked the three designated accreditation agencies: Joint Commission, the American College of Radiology (ACR), and the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC).
Source: DiagnosticImaging.com, May 2011 Issue
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Health 411: There are limits to how much a doctor or hospital may charge for medical
MAY 2011 | My doctor wants me to visit a private facility for several CT scans. I know that this facility is near a hospital that was involved in radiation overexposure of patients because equipment was not properly calibrated. How can a prospective consumer find out if an imaging center is safe?
There is no one place consumers can go to check on the quality of imaging centers. Still, there are resources to help evaluate if the provider delivers quality care.
Source: Health 411 Column, May 16, 2011
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“New Studies Show Ultrasound Contrast Agents Are Safe,”
ICUS Tells FDA Panel
MAY 2011 | A representative of the International Contrast Ultrasound Society (ICUS) told a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel Monday that ultrasound contrast agents are safe and useful diagnostic tools. New studies reflecting use in more than 5 million patients show that ultrasound contrast agents present an extremely small risk to patients while improving the accuracy of ultrasound diagnoses and, in many cases, avoiding the need for risky and expensive downstream testing, Dr. Paul Grayburn told a joint meeting of the FDA's Renal Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee. Grayburn, a professor of medicine and cardiologist at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, is a member of the ICUS executive board and associate editor of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. He also serves as a reviewer for numerous professional journals and the National Institutes of Health.
Source: Business Newswire, May 4, 2011
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What’s Happening with Facility Accreditation
Process and Requirements
MARCH 2011 | SDMS is a strong proponent of facility
accreditation. SDMS’s policy statement on
accreditation says that the “SDMS supports
accreditation by a nationally recognized
accrediting body of all facilities and clinical
practices that employ sonographers and
provide sonographic services for diagnostic or
screening purposes.” Additionally, the SDMS
believes that all sonographers in an accredited
facility should be credentialed in each of the
sonographic specialties in which they provide
patient services.
Source: SDMS NewsWave, March 2011 Issue
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New Guidelines Ensure High Level of Quality in Echo Facilities
JANUARY 2011 | The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) released a set of recommendations and measurable standards for quality in the echocardiography facility today. The recommendations for quality echocardiography facility operations will be published in the January issue of the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography.
Source: PRNewswire-USNewswire
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Download American Society of Echocardiography Recommendations for Quality Echocardiography Laboratory Operations»
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