The CMS is giving providers another year to show they've met the Stage 2 criteria of the federal government's incentive program to encourage the adoption and meaningful use of electronic health records. That means the start of the next phase will be pushed back a year. Read more here.
The aging Chalk River nuclear reactor was back up and running on Saturday after an unplanned shut down which had triggered worries of a possible medical isotope shortage. Atomic Energy of Canada Limited said repairs had to be made to the fuel rod flask – which fuels and de-fuels the reactor. “The Fuel Rod Flask was returned [...]
The once U.S.-centric device business is going global. Startups are forming worldwide, and companies—even American ones—are thinking more about how to innovate with non-Western patients in mind. “Traditionally, people have been very focused on the U.S. market, but now making sure a device is efficient enough to be sold in places like India and China [...]
Government policy is shaping the current merger environment. Mandates found in the PPACA are requiring increased collaboration—not only vertically, within a single specialty, but horizontally, across multiple specialties. The consolidation trend reshaping the provider realm also is reflected in the radiology-vendor community. Read more here.
With the debt ceiling stalemate now resolved, the Affordable Care Act and its tax on medical devices have both emerged virtually unscathed from the latest – but probably not the last – political effort to weaken the contentious health care overhaul. Read more here.
Healthcare lobbyists say they’re close to winning repeal of the medical device tax in ObamaCare. Republicans and some Democrats in the House are pushing to eliminate the 2.3 percent excise tax in legislation as Washington has approached year-end talks to get the government running again and lift the debt ceiling. Read more here.
The U.S. Senate passed legislation Sept. 26 to reauthorize, extend and improve operations of the Federal Helium Reserve in Texas, which will guarantee a stable supply of the gas used for cooling magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems. Read more here.
Curbing geographic variation in imaging use and costs has been a major target of policy efforts in recent years. But it's unclear whether focusing on these factors is the best way to rein in Medicare spending, according to a new study published online in the Journal of the American College of Radiology. Read more here.
GOP senators lead by Utah's Orrin Hatch stuck to their word that they'd work to repeal the 2.3 percent medical device tax that went into effect January as part of the Affordable Care Act--House Republicans included the provision in their bill to fund federal agencies into the next fiscal year, passed by the House lateSaturday night. Read [...]
A European Parliament committee finally voted on proposed reforms to the region's medical device regulatory process. Industry insiders were likely apoplectic about the outcome: The group came out heavily on the side of a U.S.-style premarket approval system for high-risk devices. Read more here.