Meaningful Use: A way to fund your imaging business

By Dennis Schiraldi

The Deficit Reduction Act of 2006 had a dramatic impact on radiology as a whole. Outpatient imaging center owners, operators, physicians and anyone else doing business in the ambulatory imaging market quickly found themselves in a difficult spot.

Cutbacks in reimbursement from Medicare soon followed by a 50% reduction in reimbursement on contiguous body parts on the same day and private insurance payors soon followed the same reimbursement models of CMS. Declining reimbursement continues to remain a consistent pressure in the world of medicine and always seems to impact radiology the most.

Competition is and always will be fierce in the outpatient imaging market. It’s an extremely people intense business. Outpatient imaging centers commitment to staying in front of referring physicians to solidify and maintain relationships is the life blood of the business.

A sound operational model of keeping patients moving through the schedule, identifying scheduling gaps, and doing more with less all help keep expense down and volume up. The race to pay down debt on big iron capital equipment, such as MRI or CT machines, also imperative to maximizing revenue and reducing debt.

The common denominator in all this is leveraging technology in order to maximize scheduling efficiency, optimize workflows, accuracy in billing practices and mine data to identify referring physicians, all while delivering high quality results!

One area where radiologists can improve their cash flow is by installing a certified EHR and registering for CMS payment. While there has been a lot of confusion in the market place, eligible radiologists who started back in 2012 can qualify for up to $44,000 per physician. Radiologist starting in 2013 will see a drop but can still qualify for $39,000, and in 2014 have an opportunity to see a payment of $24,000 per physician. It's not too late, although the amount is dropping and consider 2015 Medicare will begin to penalize those who have not acted. Either way, that can quickly add up, especially when you consider the average radiology practice in the US.

If you would like to learn how your radiologist can qualify for Meaningful Use incentive and help put some revenue back into your practice, Watch our webinar online! Meaningful Use: No more waiting, get your EHR today!


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