Many of our readers are wondering how the federal health policy to require a 10.6 percent cut in Medicare’s physician reimbursement rates on July 1, 2008, and an additional 5 percent on January 1, 2009, will affect capital equipment purchases, technology and staffing.


The recent OTech Webcast on career opportunities in PACS and healthcare IT drew not only hundreds of attendees but also a very animated discussion from the audience, addressing the technical and clinical backgrounds of PACS administrators, the value of experience and new opportunities in clinics and smaller institutions. Audience questions included:

Portable ultrasound devices have become the hot item in emergency rooms, ICUs, CCUs, prenatal care and outpatient settings. These techy gadgets have captured the interest of radiologists, cardiologists and other specialists alike. And, manufacturers are driven to bring the best devices to market for enhanced clinical decision-making and improved patient care.

Mini-Market Gets Bigger

Radiation oncologists are faced with the ongoing challenge of very accurately delivering dose to lesions, often in difficult to reach areas such as the head and neck, lungs and prostate. But clinicians may be overcoming that obstacle as new advances in IMRT technologies offer unprecedented improvements in the speed and accuracy of radiation therapy.

July 10, 2008 - KLAS ranked Toshiba America Medical Systems' Aquilion 64, the Vantage 1.5T MRI and Xario Ultrasound system number one in its "Top 20: Best in KLAS Awards for Medical Equipment."

July 10, 2008 - A novel blood pool magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) agent, Vasovist (gadofosveset trisodium), has been approved for marketing in South Korea, representing the 34th country in which the agent has been approved, reported the manufacturer EPIX Pharmaceuticals Inc.

July 10, 2008 - Merge Healthcare Inc. (Merge) received notification from the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ) that the Company had regained compliance with NASDAQ Marketplace Rule 4450(a)(5) and that NASDAQ now considers the matter closed.

July 10, 2008 - "As a worldwide partner of the Olympic Games, GE will donate a new Lightspeed VCT, a 64-slice CT (computed tomography) scanner, as a legacy gift to the Sea to Sky Region, British Columbia.

The Lightspeed VCT will be installed in the Whistler Health Care Centre in advance of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, and will remain within the community following the Games. This is the first CT scanner to be located in Whistler, providing residents of the Sea to Sky region with improved access to health care services closer to home.

July 10, 2008 - Boston Scientific Corp. this week launched its Atlantis .018 Peripheral Imaging Catheter, which reportedly brings existing 40 MHz coronary standard ultrasound imaging resolution to peripheral interventions.

The company said the product is available for immediately release in the U.S.

July 10, 2008 - The Senate overcame partisan gridlock on July 9, 2008, and passed the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (H.R. 6331) to repeal the 10.6 percent physician payment cut and to test the use of physician-developed Appropriateness Criteria.

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