The mission of the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute® is to establish foundational evidence for health policy and radiology practice that promotes the effective and efficient use of health care resources and improves patient care.
October 16, 2023
Medical imaging accounts for 85% of digital health’s venture capital funding. As funding grows, it is expected that artificial intelligence (AI) products will increase commensurately. The study’s objective is to project the number of new AI products given the statistical association between historical funding and FDA-approved AI products. Read the JACR study for full details.
Medical imaging accounts for 85% of digital health’s venture capital funding. As funding grows, it is expected that artificial intelligence (AI) products will increase commensurately. The study’s objective is to project the number of new AI products given the statistical association between historical funding and FDA-approved AI products. Full Article
Nicole K. McNabb, BS Eric W. Christensen, PhD Elizabeth Y. Rula, PhD Laura Coombs, PhD Keith Dreyer, DO, PhD Christoph Wald, MD Christopher Treml, MS. 2023. "Projected Growth in FDA-Approved Artificial Intelligence Products Given Venture Capital Funding," Journal of American College of Radiology (JACR)
The Medicare program, by law, must remain budget neutral. Increases in volume or relative value units (RVUs) for individual services necessitate declines in either the conversion factor or assigned RVUs for other services for budget neutrality. This study aimed to assess the contribution of budget neutrality on reimbursement trends per Medicare fee-for-service beneficiary for services provided by radiologists. Full Article
Eric W. Christensen, PhD Gregory N. Nicola, MD Elizabeth Y. Rula, PhD Lauren P. Nicola, MD Jennifer Hemingway, MS Joshua A. Hirsch, MD. 2023. "Budget Neutrality and Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Reimbursement Trends for Radiologists, 2005 to 2021," Journal of American College of Radiology (JACR)
A recent study found overall estimated screening rates of 1.75% for people covered by commercial insurance, 3.37% for those covered by traditional Medicare (fee-for-service), and 4.56% for those covered by Medicare Advantage plans. Full Article
Mary Beth Nierengarten, Elizabeth Rula, PhD. 2023. "Overall Lung Cancer Screening Rates Low," Cancer
Approximately one-third of the eligible U.S. population have not undergone guideline-compliant colorectal cancer screening. Guidelines recognize various screening strategies, to increase adherence. CMS provides coverage for all recommended screening tests except for CT colonography. The objective of this study is to compare CTC and other CRC screening tests in terms of associations of utilization with income, race and ethnicity, and urbanicity, in Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. Full Article
Eric W. Christensen, PhD, Pina C. Sanelli, MD, MPH, Elizabeth Y. Rula, PhD, Kevin J. Chang, MD, Courtney C. Moreno, MD, David H. Bruining, MD, and Judy Yee, MD. 2023. "Sociodemographic Factors and Screening CT Colonography Use Among Medicare Beneficiaries," American Journal of Roentgenology
We aimed to assess the changing share of diagnostic imaging billed by NPPs and how such changes differ by urbanicity within the context of scope-of-practice regulations and legislation. Full Article
Casey E. Pelzl MPH, Elizabeth Y. Rula PhD, Richard Duszak Jr MD, Eric W. Christensen PhD. 2023. "Trends in Diagnostic Imaging by Nonphysician Practitioners and Associations With Urbanicity and Scope-of-Practice Authority," Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology
May 22, 2023
New data from the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute® offers insight into the differences between reimbursement rates for the two programs — bringing to light striking variations. While Medicare reimbursement rates are consistent nationally, differing only by a geographic cost index, Medicaid reimbursement rates are determined by each individual state and are based on Read More
This study aimed to describe patterns of imaging utilization after resection of extremity soft tissue sarcoma in the United States, assess for potential disparities, and evaluate temporal trends. A retrospective cohort study using a national database of private payer claims data was performed to determine the utilization rate of extremity and chest imaging in a 5-year postoperative follow-up period for patients with extremity soft tissue sarcoma treated between 2007 and 2019. Imaging utilization was assessed according to patient demographics (age, sex, race and ethnicity, and region of residency), calendar year of surgery, and postoperative year. Full Article
Natalia Gorelik MD, MPH, Elizabeth Y. Rula PhD, Casey E. Pelzl MPH, Jennifer Hemingway MSc, Eric W. Christensen PhD, James M. Brophy Meng, MD, PhD, Soterios Gyftopoulos MD, MBA, MSc. 2023. "Imaging Utilization Patterns in the Follow-Up of Extremity Soft Tissue Sarcomas in the United States," Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology
The No Surprises Act (NSA) is the first federal law to address surprise medical billing and became effective as of January 2022. This law prohibits balance billing to patients who receive unexpected out-of-network care and limits patient payments to their in-network cost-sharing (coinsurance, copay, or deductible). Many neuroradiologists and neurointerventionalists are involved in care that may be subject to the NSA, such as stroke or trauma work-ups from the emergency department, and, thus, should be aware of the implications. Full Article
T.H. Nguyen, R.E. Heller, K. Keysor, J.M. Milburn, E.Y. Rula, R. Spangler, and J.A. Hirsch. 2022. "The No Surprises Act: What Neuroradiologists Should Know," American Journal of Neuroradiology
The objective of this study was to investigate whether the state share of ED visits for which an NPP was the clinician of record is associated with imaging studies ordered, given that state NPP share is associated with state-level NPP scopes of practice. Full Article
Eric W. Christensen, PhD; Chi-Mei Liu, PhD; Richard Duszak Jr, MD; Joshua A. Hirsch, MD; Timothy L. Swan, MD; Elizabeth Y. Rula, PhD. 2022. "Association of State Share of Nonphysician Practitioners With Diagnostic Imaging Ordering Among Emergency Department Visits for Medicare Beneficiaries," JAMA Network Open