According to The Northern Virginia Daily newspaper, Robert J. Eversole II has filed a $2 million wrongful-death lawsuit claiming that his wife died two years ago because a hospital lacked radiologist at night and sent CT images to a teleradiologist who misread them.
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Lawsuit Blames Death On Lack Of Radiologists
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Guyana to benefit from expert radiologists
An International Division of the Teleradiology Firm, USARAD, has signed a major contract for the exclusive reading of ultrasounds in Guyana.
The company, known as WorldRad, inked the deal with Guyana’s Imaging Providers (GIP), and is now the first American Teleradiology firm to help fill a medical services gap in a developing country. GIP Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Thomas Eversley said that WorldRad was selected as the exclusive provider of 24/7 teleradiology services for the local firm.
According to Eversley, the international division of the highly competitive U.S. teleradiology company will provide assistance to cover the radiology’s general and obstetrician ultrasound services, filling an important need in the country.
“Ultrasound is widely used modality in many nations with limited healthcare technology and other resources such as Guyana,” Eversley said.
The CEO added that the need for qualified radiologists who can read a large volume of varied ultrasound images in Guyana is great due to the current shortage of qualified radiologists.
Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of both internet-based teleradiology companies, Dr Michael Yuz said the agreement will play a crucial role in bringing a higher quality of care to an underserved population in a country that suffers from a shortage of qualified radiologists.
Dr Yuz explained that there is a tremendous need in Guyana for a model of how teleradiology services can benefit patients and practice in areas facing a shortage of medical imaging services.
To deliver its services, images are stored and accessed by PACS (a picture archiving and communication system), medical imaging technology on a secured USARAD cloud, and enabling streamlined, flexible connectivity from any location. WorldRad promises to offer the site the services of a full range of sub-specialty radiologists as the needs of Guyana’s imaging expand while maintaining the same business practice that has brought USARAD its high degree of success in the U.S., Dr Yuz stressed.
“WorldRad is committed to delivering fast service, with STAT studies within an average of 15 to 20 minutes and routine cases within several hours.”
The company will also be available to provide consultation and second opinion on exams which are read in Guyana. All examinations from Guyana will be read by U.S. board-certified radiologists located within the United States to ensure high-quality reading. WorldRad is headed by the same management and utilises the same radiology-on-demand platform as USARAD. “WorldRad is committed to providing services at reasonable fees to address the needs of the local marketplace… We are extremely excited about the new relationship in Guyana,” Dr Yuz noted.
He explained that as the sophistication of medical services offered in the country grows, so will the need for more qualified radiologists, and WorldRad is perfectly positioned to meet that need.
WorldRad was launched in October 2011 and provides services across the globe from Europe and Asia to the Middle East, South America and more. It fills a vital need in underdeveloped countries where trained physicians are at a premium as well as in other locations experiencing a similar radiology shortage seen in the U.S. a decade ago.
“In some countries, the average report turn around time when using local radiologists is not minutes but weeks. American radiologists are highly trained and well-regarded throughout the world,” Dr Yuz said. He pointed out that WorldRad can significantly enhance the speed and quality of care in many locations, and is already doing so in Russia, the Middle East and Latin American. USARAD is headquartered in Mount Laurel, New Jersey and is one of the fastest growing teleradiology groups in the country. The company provides 24/7/365 service in all 50 states for imaging centres, hospitals and mobile imaging providers.
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HHS Office of Inspector General Releases Priorities for Fiscal Year 2012
The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has been busy combating fraud and abuse over the last few years – the monies it has recovered more than doubled from 2006 to 2010, topping $4 billion in fiscal year 2010 alone. And OIG’s enforcement efforts will undoubtedly increase because of the balanced budget pressure in Washington.
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KLAS: “Almost half of the former NightHawk customers are looking for other options.”
According to a new report on the teleradiology market from the health-care research company KLAS, many former NightHawk customers are considering to discontinue the service. Virtual Radiologic (Vrad) purchased NightHawk Radiologic and created the country’s largest teleradiology company. Everyone is curious about the consequences of this merger. Emily Crane, KLAS director of teleradiology research and author of the report, as saying: Many NightHawk customers have reported challenges with turnaround times, and reading physicians have struggled with the transition to vRad’s technology since the acquisition.
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REMINDER: ADVANCED IMAGING SUPPLIERS TO BE ACCREDITED BY JAN 1 2012
Under the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA), all Medicare suppliers of the technical component of advanced imaging services have until by January 1, 2012 to become accredited by an accreditation organization designated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services . This includes physicians, non-physician practitioners, and physician and non-physician organizations paid for the technical component of advanced imaging services under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.
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DRAMATIC RISE IN HEALTHCARE FRAUD PROSECUTIONS
For the last couple of years I have been telling my physician and provider clients that they should expect to see a dramatic rise in healthcare health fraud investigations and prosecutions. According to a recent article published by USA Today citing statistics released by the Transactional Records Access Clearing House, my prediction (albeit a fairly easy one) is proving to be true. According to the USA Today article, federal healthcare prosecutions for 2011 are on track to increase 85% over 2010, and fraud prosecutions have gone up 71% from five years ago. In addition, according to Justice Department statistics, there have already been more Medicare fraud trial convictions in the first eight months of 2011 than there were in 2010.
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MEDICARE STING LARGEST IN THE HISTORY
Federal health care fraud enforcement authorities announced last week that they successfully carried out another major national health care fraud sting which they say is the largest of its kind. According to a Press Release by the Department of Justice, efforts by the joint Medicare Fraud Strike Force have resulted in the arrest of 91 defendants for allegedly submitting a collective $295 million in fraudulent Medicare claims. The arrests involve a broad range of health care businesses — including physicians. Some of the charges identified in the Press Release include:
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FUTURE MAY NOT BE BRIGHT FOR PHYSICIANS
According to a recent study published in the September issue of Health Affairs, one of the key drivers behind the skyrocketing healthcare costs in the United States is the amount of fees payable to the physicians. According to an article published on MedPage Today, the study found that the United States spends in excess of $7500 per person on health care and more than 21% of that is for ambulatory care services performed in physician offices. The next closest country in spending to the United States is a Canada which spends roughly $4000 per person on health care services.
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Announcement: Radiology-On-Demand™ RadStore
USARAD.com Introduces Radiology-On-Demand™ RadStore,
a Long-Term Cloud Storage Solution
Groundbreaking New Client Benefit Free or at Low Cost
September 19, 2011, Mt. Laurel, NJ–USARAD.com, LLC, a Joint Commission accredited provider of outsourced imaging services, today announced Radiology-On-Demand™ RadStore, a long-term image storage solution available at no or low cost to all new and existing clients. The service complements the broad range of existing cloud-based technologies that USARAD.com already provides to help clients manage their outsourced images and reports, including state-of-the-art RIS, PACS, peer review and other related workflow solutions.
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