CMS has implemented a quality payment incentive program, referred to as the Quality Payment Program, which rewards value and outcomes for clinicians participating in Medicare in one of two ways: Merit-based incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs).
A new Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute study assesses temporal and patient-level differences in paracentesis and thoracentesis procedures performed on Medicare beneficiaries by radiologists and non-radiologists with respect to overall procedure volume, day of week, and patient complexity. The study is published online in Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology.
A new study performed in conjunction with the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute examines changing characteristics of utilization and potential disparities in US emergency department (ED) patients undergoing CT of the abdomen and pelvis (CTAP) for suspected urolithiasis.
A new research study by Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute found that utilization of invasive procedures on hemodialysis conduits—artificially constructed shuts used by many individuals who require dialysis—increased markedly from 2001 through 2015 for nephrologists and declined for radiologists. The study is published online in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (JVIR).
Computed tomography (CT) of the head uses special x-ray equipment to help assess head injuries, dizziness, and other symptoms of the brain. This new study, published online in Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology, evaluates the complexity of patients undergoing head-CT examinations.
After a period of prior growth, national inferior vena cava (IVC) filter utilization in the Medicare population has markedly declined over the last decade according to a prior Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute study published in 2018. How IVC filter utilization has varied at the state level as well as across different payer populations during the recent decline in utilization is unknown. This new study, published online in the American Journal of Roentgenology, assesses state level IVC filter utilization and expands the population set to include both the Medicare and the privately insured population.
As interventional radiology (IR) evolves as a distinct specialty from diagnostic radiology (DR), the central and ongoing role of diagnostic radiologists in performing certain invasive radiological procedures could have important patient access implications.
A new Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute study assesses national and state-specific changes in emergency department (ED) chest imaging utilization from 1994 to 2015. The new research is published online in the Journal of American College of Radiology (JACR).
Bundled payments have been touted as mechanisms to optimize quality and costs. A prior feasibility study evaluating bundled payments for screening mammography episodes predated widespread adoption of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT).
A new Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute study assesses the effect of receiving an Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) between 2011 and 2013 on the annual rate of eight preventive services recommended for the Medicare population following the AWV. The study is published online in Preventive Medicine.
The American College of Radiology’s Neiman Institute and the Georgia Institute of Technology announced a new five-year, $3 million research partnership to establish the Health Economics and Analytics Lab (HEAL) within Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.
Increased awareness of breast tissue density masking cancer and thus decreasing the diagnostic sensitivity of mammography has brought about relevant state-level policies. This new study by Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute examines which characteristics of breast density state-level policies were associated with increased use of downstream breast ultrasound for enhancing earlier detection of breast cancer. The study is published in Medical Care.