|
Top 10 Radiology Stories of 2024 | Medicare Fix Turmoil
December 19, 2024
|
|
|
|
|
Together with
|
|
|
|
“Today, $250B is spent on radiology for traditional medical reasons. If radiology expands to prevention, screening & lifestyle tracking, [the] market could go to $500B+. The potential is massive — not just for business, but also clinically, as diseases are treated earlier & people stay healthier.”
|
|
Amine Korchi, MD, on radiology’s preventive medicine potential.
|
|
|
Welcome to the last edition of The Imaging Wire of the year as we’ll be taking a break for the holidays. Thank you to all our readers and sponsors who make this newsletter possible, and keep an eye out for our next issue on January 6.
|
|
|
|
What were the top 10 radiology stories of 2024 in The Imaging Wire? This year’s top 10 list as measured by reader views demonstrates the fascinating new developments going on every day in medical imaging.
- Radiologist Shortage Looms: A July report painted a gloomy picture of the demographic crush facing radiology as the U.S. population ages and imaging volumes rise, but the number of radiologists remains static.
- Study Shows AI’s Economic Value: A March study in JACR tackled arguments against AI’s economic value, demonstrating AI’s ability to both improve radiologist efficiency and also drive new revenues for imaging facilities.
- Radiology’s Private-Practice Squeeze: It’s no secret that U.S. radiology’s traditional private-practice model has been slowly fading away, but a study published in AJR in June illustrated the magnitude of the shift. The number of radiologist-affiliated and radiologist-only practices has dropped, even as the total number of U.S. radiologists has gone up.
- Radiologist Pay Rebounds: Radiologist pay grew 5.6% and radiology moved up one notch in a May survey of highest-paid U.S. medical specialties for 2023. Physician salaries generally rebounded last year after a decline in 2022.
- FDA Keeps Pace on AI Approvals: The FDA in August updated its list of AI- and machine learning-enabled medical devices that have received regulatory authorization, showing the agency keeping a brisk pace of authorizations.
- Is Radiology’s AI Edge Fading? FDA figures from May hinted that radiology’s AI edge might be fading, at least when it comes to the specialty’s share of AI-enabled medical devices being granted regulatory authorization.
- Is Head CT Overused in the ED? A study in March suggested that head CT could be overused in the emergency department for patients presenting with conditions like headache and dizziness, as researchers found a big increase in CT angiography utilization.
- AI Speeds Up MRI Scans: Researchers in March found that AI-based data reconstruction sped up MRI scans and helped their hospital avoid buying a new scanner by improving throughput.
- 6 Solutions to the RT Shortage: A new report published in July from the ASRT and other groups confirmed the shortage of radiologic technologists is severe, but offers some solutions.
- MASAI Gets Even Better at ECR 2024: At ECR 2024, researchers in the MASAI study presented final data indicating that AI could have an even bigger impact on mammography screening than we thought.
The Takeaway
The Imaging Wire’s list of top 10 articles for 2024 shows that bread-and-butter issues like the radiologist shortage and physician reimbursement continue to be top of mind for our readers. The use of AI in radiology is a close second, and our readers can be assured that we will follow all of these issues closely in 2025.
|
|
|
Enterprise Imaging for Cardiology
Discover how AGFA HealthCare’s Enterprise Imaging for Cardiology solution can revolutionize cardiologists’ workflow in this on-demand webcast. You’ll learn how it can foster collaboration, streamline operations, and optimize your practice.
|
|
Celebrating Happy Customers
There’s nothing better than happy customers. Find out what radiology personnel at Western New York MRI in Buffalo had to say about their new uMR 680 scanner from United Imaging.
|
|
Your In-Workflow Copilot Experience
PowerScribe Smart Impression from Microsoft harnesses generative AI to automatically generate draft impressions and recommendations, saving you time and reducing workload-related stress. Learn how it can become your in-workflow copilot today.
|
|
3 Good Reasons to Add Mammography
There are three good reasons to add mammography services at your imaging site as providers expect higher demand for breast imaging services. Get the facts about mammography on this resource page from Siemens Healthineers.
|
|
- Medicare Fix Turmoil: A bipartisan Congressional deal that would have fixed most of a planned 2.8% cut in Medicare physician reimbursement in 2025 appears to be collapsing. Lawmakers reportedly had agreed to include a 2.5% payment increase in an omnibus spending bill to keep the federal government running, but opposition from President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance over elements of the spending bill has reportedly torpedoed the legislation. Federal government funding will run out December 20 unless some kind of agreement is passed.
- Imaging Use Tied to Medicaid Payment: In a finding that may not be a total surprise, researchers from the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute found that use of imaging in the Medicaid system is higher in states with higher reimbursement. In a study in JACR, researchers found that imaging use was 25-28% lower for CT, MRI, and ultrasound for patients in the lowest reimbursement quartile compared to the highest, and X-ray use was 38% higher in the highest versus lowest quartile – indicating disparities in care access.
- House Report Says Pay for AI: A new report from the U.S. House of Representatives recommends reviewing the way Medicare pays for AI – addressing a major barrier to AI adoption. The report notes the potential benefits and challenges of AI across multiple industries, pointing out that current Medicare reimbursement structures don’t adequately compensate for AI tools that streamline clinical practice and reduce time spent on services. It advises that Congress continue to evaluate Medicare’s AI payment policies, a position that drew support from industry groups like AdvaMed.
- AI Transparency Guidelines: The House report also addresses issues like transparency and standardization of AI in healthcare. To that end, a new set of recommendations were published this week in Lancet Digital Health and NEJM AI that try to set standards for AI development, particularly how datasets are used for algorithm research and training. The STANDING Together recommendations focus on ensuring that datasets used for training reflect the full diversity of patients they will be used on – addressing the potential for bias in AI use.
- AI Leaderboard Launched: Who’s got the best AI algorithm for generating radiology reports from chest X-rays? A new leaderboard launched by Harvard University – called ReXrank – enables AI developers to test their algorithms and win bragging rights if they measure up. AI data aggregator Gradient Health is supporting the project by making its ReXGradient dataset of 10k chest X-ray studies available as a standardized benchmark against which algorithms can be tested. The project is led by Harvard’s Rajpurkar Lab, run by AI expert Pranav Rajpurkar, PhD.
- AI Cuts Reporting Turnaround: In related news, a group led by Pranav Rajpurkar, PhD, posted a new pre-print paper to ArXiv suggesting that generative AI could cut report turnaround time for radiologists. Researchers used GPT-4 to create draft reports of 20 CT cases and tested it with three radiologist readers. AI-based reporting cut turnaround time by 24%, from 573 to 435 seconds, without a statistically significant difference in clinically significant errors. Researchers plan a follow-up study with a larger sample.
- Echo AI for Cardiac Amyloidosis: Us2.ai’s new echo AI algorithm for cardiac amyloidosis detection was validated in a late-breaking presentation at EuroEcho-Imaging 2024 last week. The algorithm was trained on 10k apical four-chamber images from 4.1k patients, and tested in 509 patients from two external cohorts. The algorithm turned in good AUC (0.89 and 0.92) for the cohorts, showing it can differentiate between cardiac amyloidosis patients and those with left ventricular hypertrophy at a level better than multiparametric echo scores.
- Canada Breast Screening Guidelines: The battle over breast screening guidelines in Canada took a sharp turn this week with the release of a federal government report suggesting the country’s national mammography screening age be lowered to 40. The report criticizes the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care’s resistance to lowering the screening age as part of a recent guideline review. The new report recommends the task force revisit its recommendation (which hasn’t been finalized), and advises that the group be “rebuilt” with better accountability and transparency.
- deepc Partners with RADPAIR: AI platform company deepc is partnering with RADPAIR in an alliance targeting radiology reporting. deepc will become RADPAIR’s exclusive channel partner in the AI platform segment for the U.S., Europe, and other geographies. The collaboration combines RADPAIR’s generative AI reporting technology with deepc’s deepcOS AI orchestration platform and AIR reporting solution. The companies discussed the technologies at RSNA 2024 earlier this month.
- Muscle Density Predicts Mortality: More evidence is emerging on the ability of imaging-derived muscle quality measurements to predict mortality. Writing in a study in Academic Radiology, researchers calculated pectoral muscle area and density from CT scans of 1.4k COVID-19 patients in Germany. Thirty-day mortality was 18%, and low pectoralis muscle density was a strong mortality predictor (HR=2.96), particularly for men and patients under 60. Pectoralis muscle area was not a predictive factor, however. The study confirms other research on connections between skeletal muscle mass and mortality.
- Prenuvo Hits MRI Scan Milestone: Preventive medicine firm Prenuvo is highlighting a milestone this week as the company has performed more than 100k MRI scans to date. Prenuvo noted that of the patients who received its preventive whole-body scans, 49% had a condition worth monitoring, while the rest had findings that were “informational” but not clinically actionable. What’s more, 75% had signs of spinal degeneration, either in the neck, lower back, or both. The company also noted its creation of the world’s largest dataset of whole-body normative imaging.
- Smoking, Social Status Affects Follow-Up: What predicts whether individuals complete follow-up for lung nodules found on CT scans? In a new study in Chest, researchers found that smoking and socioeconomic status were major predictors. Among 33k patients with incidental pulmonary nodules ≤30 mm, lower follow-up adherence compared to never-smokers was found with former smokers (RR=0.67) and current smokers (RR=0.73), as well as with those living in socioeconomically deprived areas (RR=0.97). Patients with smoking histories may need more aggressive outreach.
- Status Affects Smoking Quit Rates: In a related study in Preventive Medicine, researchers found that people with high socioeconomic status (post-high school education) were more likely to stop smoking as part of a cessation program offered along with lung cancer screening. People with high socioeconomic status had higher odds ratios for completing a cessation program even if they lived in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods compared to those with both low socioeconomic status and lower SES neighborhoods (OR=6.04).
- 4DMedical Signs UChicago: 4DMedical landed a top-notch luminary site in the U.S.: The University of Chicago Medicine, which will be rolling out the company’s lung imaging technology, including its CT LVAS test for pulmonary function. 4DMedical is expanding on a relationship UChicago Medicine originally had with Imbio, which the company acquired in December 2023. In other news, 4DMedical said it would be expanding its relationship with UC San Diego Health, and it also signed Imaging Partners of Orange County in California as a client.
- Alara Signs Collaboration with ACR: Software developer Alara Imaging and the ACR are collaborating to help radiology providers comply with new CMS quality reporting measures. Alara’s Gateway software helps providers measure, document, and report CT radiation dose measures, which CMS will require as part of its quality payment programs in 2025. The deal with ACR involves technical integration that enables Gateway to be used for data transfer from a health system to the ACR, which can submit data to CMS on behalf of radiologists for quality reporting.
|
|
Unprecedented Insights Made Possible with AI
With the largest normative dataset of whole-body imaging in the world, Prenuvo’s AI researchers partner with the best academic minds to understand – like never before – what “normal” aging means. Learn about their work today.
|
|
Introducing Merge Consulting Services
How can your radiology practice manage change and expectations in healthcare with workforce flexibility? Merge by Merative is launching Merge Consulting Services to help you face the challenges of sourcing expertise and staff. Learn more about it today.
|
|
4 Reasons Why Subscription Is Better
The KLAS-leading Intuition advanced visualization solution from TeraRecon includes all the clinical features you need, plus a growing list of exclusive subscription-only content. Learn more about what’s included.
|
|
- Fast and Reliable CT Head Imaging: Whether portable in the ICU or mobile in the ambulance as a mobile stroke unit, SOMATOM On.site from Siemens Healthineers brings critical care imaging to your patients. With its telescopic gantry design, integrated positioning accessories, and proven SOMATOM technologies, you can achieve fast and reliable CT head imaging.
- Say Goodbye to On-Premises Costs: Free up resources with Optum’s cloud solutions for medical imaging that will help you say goodbye to on-premises costs. Visit this page to see how they can help you save!
- The Clinical Value of Soft-Tissue Chest X-Ray: Soft-tissue techniques can improve the visibility and accuracy of chest X-ray. Learn about two important soft-tissue methods – bone suppression and dual-energy subtraction – in this white paper from Riverain Technologies.
- Transforming Patient Care with Mach7’s eUnity Diagnostic Viewer: University of Michigan Health-West uses Mach7’s eUnity Diagnostic Viewer to drive patient care and provider satisfaction. Learn more about how one of the nation’s most-wired hospitals puts patients first through adoption of innovative imaging technology.
- Key Takeaways from RSNA: PocketHealth CEO Rishi Nayyar highlights three major themes from RSNA: engaging patients and providers to close care gaps, leveraging AI to improve patient care, and creating efficiencies to address financial challenges. Read more here.
- The Road to Cloud-Based PACS: Radiology facilities are turning to cloud-based PACS like Visage’s Visage 7 to solve their medical image management needs. Learn about their experiences in this Imaging Wire Show with Amy Thompson of Signify Research and radiologist Marc Kohli, MD.
- The Importance of Architecture in Healthcare: Technology is pivotal in providing efficient, secure, and scalable solutions in healthcare. At the core of this digital transformation is the architecture of healthcare software. Learn how software architecture and containerization are revolutionizing healthcare in this blog from Enlitic.
- Improving Your Mammography Workflow: Want to learn how AI can relieve pressure in your mammography department? Watch this on-demand webinar hosted by Blackford featuring a panel discussing the importance of assessing breast density, image quality reporting, and prioritizing studies.
- Transform Your Practice into a Multispecialty Powerhouse: Medality is the practice development platform that helps radiologists upskill in high-growth, advanced imaging areas. Request a demo today and discover how to transform your practice into a multispecialty powerhouse.
- Discover AI Apps Curated by Body Regions: Discover how Calantic Digital Solutions by Bayer supports you in tackling radiology challenges through multiple stages of the patient’s journey by offering AI solutions curated for specific body regions. Learn more about Calantic today.
- What Does Improved MRI Efficiency Mean? There’s a growing need for practical, cost-effective solutions to improve efficiency in MRI and other modalities. Read this article from Karen Holzberger of SpinTech MRI and James Backstrom, MD, to learn how the company’s STAGE software can help.
- Feel the Freedom of Helium-Free MRI: Lift limitations and experience MRI excellence with Philips BlueSeal, the industry’s lightest, vent pipe-free, high-performance, helium-free 1.5T scanner. Save on helium and energy costs, achieve precise AI-enhanced diagnoses, enjoy faster scans, and optimized workflows. Learn more today.
- Automated Measurements of Standing Radiographs: Precise lower limb measurements are crucial for assessing musculoskeletal health. Learn how measurements from Gleamer’s BoneMetrics solution offer a reliable alternative to manual assessments.
- AI Supports Diagnosis of Cognitive Disorders: How can AI support the early diagnosis of cognitive disorders in elderly people? Read this article from DeepHealth on how AI-powered software with MRI can be used with both neuropsychological tests and clinical information to improve early diagnosis of cognitive impairments.
- Harnessing the Power of AI to Improve Patient Care: Endeavor Health is one of the first healthcare providers in the Midwest to use AI in the echocardiography lab. Learn how they are harnessing echo AI’s tremendous potential to improve diagnostic capabilities and help patients on this page from Us2.ai.
- Presenting Unboxing AI: Check out CARPL’s video series, Unboxing AI, featuring experts discussing AI and its future in radiology. The next episode on December 20 features Sham Sokka of DeepHealth – reserve your seat today.
- Give Patients a Clear Path to Accessing Medical Data: Clearpath is a simple integration that empowers digital delivery of medical records and images. Request a demo today to find out how you can ditch the disc and give your patients and third parties instant access to digital data.
- A Streamlined Radiology Workflow: Intelerad’s InteleOne provides a streamlined reading workflow for radiologists regardless of where the images come from. Book a demo today to learn how it can improve quality of life and productivity.
|
|
|
|
|
