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| Edition: January 2020 |
| Table of Contents |
Letter from the Editor | FRS President’s Message | FRBMA President’s Message | Legislative Update
Martin Northup Resident Leadership Award | 2020 FRBMA Annual Winter Retreat
2020 Annual Meeting of the FRS &FRBMA | Job Board | Job Posting Opportunities
Become a PAC Member |
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| Letter from the Editor |
Happy New Year!! Here comes 2020 – Is your Organization or Facility ready for Advanced Imaging Clinical Decision support? For Radiologists, this will be the year when CMS will enforce AUC (Appropriate Use Criteria: Program). Beginning January 1, 2020, a provider must use a qualified CDSM and report appropriate use criteria consultation information on the professional and facility claims for service. The claims will include:
- Ordering professional’s NPI.
- Which CDSM was consulted (such as R-scan created by the College of Radiology).
- Whether the service ordered would or would not adhere to consulted appropriate use criteria or whether it was not applicable to the service ordered.
CMS has determined the following exceptions to the reporting requirements: Emergency services when provided with certain medical conditions, inpatients and for which Medicare Part A payment is made, and ordering professionals when experiencing significant hardship such as insufficient internet. January 1, 2020 is educational year. • While consultation of AUC will be required, adherence to AUC recommendations is not required during this initial phase. • Reimbursement denials begin Jan 1, 2021. • In the future, CMS will require ordering clinicians with exceptionally high rates of non-adherence to ordering guidelines to obtain pre-authorization of advanced imaging studies for Medicare patients. While this may be for Medicare patients only, it’s important to note that as Medicare goes so does the rest of the industry. Check the CMS website regularly for Updates:
https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Appropriate-Use-Criteria-Program/index List of CMS approved CDS
- AgileMD’s Clinical Decision Support Mechanism
- AIM Specialty Health ProviderPortal®*
- Applied Pathways CURION™ Platform
- Cranberry Peak ezCDS
- EviCore healthcare’s Clinical Decision Support Mechanism
- EvidenceCare’s Imaging Advisor
- Inveni-QA’s Semantic Answers in Medicine™
- MedCurrent OrderWise™
- Medicalis Clinical Decision Support Mechanism
- National Decision Support Company CareSelect™*
- National Imaging Associates RadMD
- Reliant Medical Group CDSM
- Test Appropriate CDSM*
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Chintan Desai, MD
Secretary, Florida Radiological Society
desai@desairadiology.com |
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| Meet Your 2019 – 2020 FRS Executive Committee |
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President
Patricia Mergo, MD, FACR |
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President-Elect
Douglas Hornsby, MD |
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Treasurer
Rajendra Kedar, MD, FACR |
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Secretary
Chintan Desai, MD |
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Past President
Steven DePrima, MD, FACR |
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| FRS President’s Message |
Happy New Year! 2020 welcomes us to step up and embrace the beginning of a new decade. While no year passes without distress and shortcomings, 2020 ought to live up to its hype and be the near perfect year. This won’t happen on its own though. It will happen because these are our expectations. Setting goals and achieving them will be what actually makes it happen. Due diligence and attention to detail along the way will aid in staving off unexpected roadblocks. This takes care of our part. That’s all we need to worry about.
In order to achieve the right mindset for this to happen, I offer two thoughts for contemplation. The first point for consideration is simply the reminder that we are creatures of habit. The laying down of neural networks help define and solidify our habits. Secondly, studies have shown that it takes 66 days to form a habit (or break a habit). 66 days is a long time. It is over 1/6th of the way through the New Year. This means that we will be rolling into the time for the Annual ACR meeting in May before new habits (or the breaking of old habits) will become true routine. I challenge you to start making those new habits and come to the annual meeting in Washington and join our FRS/FRBMA contingency and share your experiences over the next few months. Then, bring it to the FRS/FRBMA annual meeting in Ft. Lauderdale in July for further informal discussion and reflection. Start making your plans and laying down those pathways today!
I look forward to serving the FRS in 2020 and hope you will join us on this 2020 journey. That will truly make it a perfect year!
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Patricia Mergo, MD, FACR
President, Florida Radiological Society
Mergo.Patricia@mayo.edu |
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Legal Counsel
Michael M. Raskin, M.D., J.D., FACR |
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| FRBMA President’s Message |
The Radiology Business Journal has been conducting an annual survey to identify the top 100 radiology practices in the country and 2019 marked their 12th year. Because of the evolution of radiology with respect to market consolidation and the volume to value transition, they have renamed the survey the Exemplary 80. Historically, groups were categorized as “independent” practices; however, this characterization has been dropped to recognize the role active consolidators are playing in the group practice landscape.
Affiliations among the 80 group practices include Radiology Partners, Inc.; Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe; Mednax Radiology Solutions, and Lucid Health. Multiple ownership structures are represented among the respondents including corporation (there was no distinction between C type and S type), general partnership, limited liability partnership, joint venture, and limited partnership.
A new question for the 2019 survey was the number of advanced practitioners in the respondents’ practices with 20 percent reporting two. Another new question was how the number of employees who are dedicated to an information technology (IT) role. The most common response was zero (14 percent) and three percent reported a staff of 20 IT specialists.
A highly anticipated question is always what are the challenges or “pain points” that concern these group practices? Fifty-one percent identified new or increased pressures from commercial payers as a significant challenge. Other concerns included staying current with technology (47 percent), avoiding CMS payment penalties (46 percent), maintaining with reduced reimbursement (46 percent), making the right decisions about mergers and consolidation (45 percent), protecting privacy and data security (43 percent), and preparing for the use of artificial intelligence as it gains a foothold in radiology (37 percent).
These concerns were captured nicely in the free-field comments submitted by one practice executive: “We are in the process of looking to replace our RIS, PACS, voice recognition and VNA, so this will be a big year from an IT spend perspective. And all of this comes while we’re working to ensure the security of patient information. We are also negotiating more favorable contracts with insurance carriers to increase reimbursement and keep up with increased out-the-door expenditures.” In addition to comments relative to the current survey, respondents were also asked for suggestions for future surveys and one respondent replied, “How are practices recruiting new radiologists during the current shortage?”
According to Radiology Business, “radiology stakeholders and watchers alike need to keep eyes peeled for shifts in trends, strategies and priorities. The growing presence in the profession of not only Big Money but also Big Data—will we soon call it Big Radiology? —means change is upon us to a degree that couldn’t be foreseen when the first Radiology 100 rolled out in the mid-2000s.”
The top 10 group practices in the Exemplary 80 are:
#1 Radia (Lynnwood, Washington) – # 1 in 2018
#2 Radiology Associates of North Texas (Fort Worth, Texas) – #2 in 2018
#3 Texas Radiology Associates (Dallas, Texas) – #7 in 2018
#4 Southwest Diagnostic Imaging (Phoenix, Arizona) – #3 in 2018
#5 Advanced Radiology Services (Grand Rapids, Michigan) -#8 in 2018
#6 University Radiology (East Brunswick, New Jersey) – #10 in 2018
#7 Renaissance Imaging Medical Associates (Northridge, California) – #4 in 2018
#8 Columbus Radiology (Columbus, Ohio) – #5 in 2018
#9 Riverside Radiology & Interventional Associates (Columbus, Ohio) – #6 in 2018
#10 American Radiology Associates (Dallas, Texas) – #12 in 2018
The Florida group practices included in the Exemplary 80 are:
#16 Radiology Associates of South Florida (Miami)
#17 Radiology Associates of Florida (Tampa)
#33 Radiology and Imaging Specialists of Lakeland (Lakeland)
#39 Radiology Imaging Associates (Daytona Beach)
#40 MBB Radiology (Jacksonville)
#41 Medical Center Radiology Group (Orlando)
#52 Radiology Regional Center (Ft. Myers)
#59 Boca Radiology Group (Boca Raton)
#70 Lake Medical Imaging & Breast Center (Leesburg)
#80 MRI Scan & Imaging Center (Ft. Lauderdale)
Pearson, D., 2019 Group Practice Survey: The Exemplary 80, Radiology Business, October 14, 2019.
https://www.radiologybusiness.com/topics/healthcare-economics/2019-group-practice-survey-exemplary-80?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=rb_news
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Barbara Rubel, MBA, FRBMA
President, FRBMA
brubel@msnllc.com |
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| Legislative Update |
On January 14th the Florida Legislature will convene for their annual 60 day Legislative Session. The continuation of legislation expanding physician extenders is anticipated to be pushed by the Florida House. The balanced billing issue is still being discussed on the national level and it remains to be seen if legislation will be filed at the state level for this Session.
The budget will be tighter this Session as revenue is flat. The Governor proposed big initiatives as he rolled out his presentation of his budget, including raises for teachers, which will be tough to accomplish with the tight revenue projections. It is an election year so members will want the session to end on time.
The upcoming session feels like a Hurricane waiting to make landfall. It either will be a Cat 4, or could miss us entirely due to it being an election year.
I hope all have had a wonderful Holiday season. |
Thanks,
Alison Dudley, FRS Lobbyist
AlisonDudley@dudleyandassociates.com |
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| Martin Northup Resident Leadership Award |
H. Martin Northup Resident Leadership Award – A scholarship opportunity for Florida Diagnostic Radiology, Radiation Oncology and Medical Physicist 2nd year Residents or graduate students.
Martin Northup was very committed to radiology resident education and advancement. To eternally honor and remember him, the board of the FRS Foundation has established a special award bearing his name, the “H Martin Northup Resident Leadership Award.” Each year, this award will be given to a 2nd year Florida radiology resident who will be a 3rd year at the time of the fellowship to support the cost of accommodations for attending the FRS annual summer meeting. The resident will have an officer mentor and will attend all functions including the board meeting. The goal is to develop future leaders in Radiology and develop promising residents to assume greater roles in the society, such as President of the Resident and Fellow’s Section. The award recipient will be chosen for the 2020 Annual Meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, July 17-19, 2020 by the Scholarships and Grants committee based on a competitive application process.
Please click here to download an application. Return your completed application to lroger@edusymp.com by May 15, 2020 in order to be considered for this award. |
Thank you,
Jeffrey Stone, M.D., FACR
President, FRS Educational Foundation |
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| FRBMA Annual Winter Retreat |
| The FRBMA is hosting its Annual Winter Retreat at the Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine on January 30th – 31st, 2020. The industry is currently facing a myriad of changes including adapting to the MIPS changes in 2020; the operational complexities of Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) and Clinical Decision Support (CDS); and consolidation where a perceived expectation is that groups must protect market share through growth. The FRBMA Board has assembled an impressive group of speakers for its Winter Retreat and is confident that, not only does this retreat provide radiologists with valuable information, but it is the best, one-day value in the country. To register for the meeting, please visit: https://www.flrad.org/2020-frbma-retreat/. |
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| 2020 Annual Meeting of the FRS & FRBMA |
| Please join the Florida Radiological Society and the Florida Radiology Business Management Association for the 2020 Annual Meeting at The Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort, July 17-19, 2020. The meeting will focus on “2020 Vision: Surviving and Thriving” and will feature lectures by faculty who are leaders in the practice of radiology. We look forward to seeing you in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. |
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| Job Board |
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Available Positions
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| Job Posting Opportunities |
Florida Radiological Society is pleased to introduce the opportunity for interested parties to advertise for potential jobs in our monthly FRS Ebrief bulletin.
Advertisement pricing is as follows:
Ebrief Job Posting pricing:
3 months ($100 monthly)
6 months ($90 monthly)
12 months ($80 monthly)
Please contact Lorraine Roger, our Society Administrator for further information on how to advertise in our monthly publication.
ph (813) 806-1070
fx (813) 806-1071
email lroger@flrad.org
We feel that this will provide a valuable service to both our members and our Florida community of Radiology.
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Thank you for your interest!
Patricia Mergo, MD
President, FRS
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| Become a PAC Member Today |
Attention FRBMA Members! Please support the cause. We encourage you to be PAC members and supporters; you do not have to belong to the FRS. Donations can be made online through our PAC website www.FLRADPAC.org. We would like to recognize the following contributor(s) to the FRS PAC in December: Dr. Valentin.
It is critical that we support both our Florida PAC and RADPAC in order to bolster our voice in Tallahassee and Washington, respectively. Please join FRS lobbyist Alison Dudley in her special appeal for all Florida radiologists to become Florida PAC members. If you would like to help FRS defend radiology against untoward legislation and introduce bills that have a positive impact on our practices, we need your financial support to re-elect our friends in the state House and Senate. The FRS can also show you simplified ways on how to sign up your radiology group. Contact Lorraine Roger at lroger@flrad.org or contact Alison Dudley at alisondudley@dudleyandassociates.com for more information. |
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Telephone (813) 806-1070 • Fax (813) 806-1071
5620 W. Sligh Avenue • Tampa, Florida 33634 |
| The E-Brief is an exclusive member benefit of Florida Radiological Society, delivering monthly member, chapter and industry news. Please do not reply to this automatic e-mail. For comments or questions about the E-Brief, please contact lroger@flrad.org. |
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