Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR
-
A recent report by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission to Congress indicated that the utilization of diagnostic imaging is growing more rapidly than that of any other type of physician service. This has engendered concern among those who pay for health care. In this article, the authors review the role of self-referral in driving up imaging utilization. ⋯ These have consistently shown that when nonradiologist physicians operate their own imaging equipment and have the opportunity to self-refer, their utilization is substantially higher than among other physicians who refer their patients to radiologists. It has also been shown that the vast bulk of the recent increases in imaging utilization are attributable to nonradiologists who self-refer. The authors estimate that the cost to the American health care system of unnecessary imaging resulting from self-referral by nonradiologists is $16 billion per year.
-
Employer-sponsored retirement plans are the primary savings vehicles used by radiologists to fund their retirements. A variety of retirement plans are available with guidelines, benefits, and restrictions specified by the Internal Revenue Code. In this article, we review and summarize the salient features of these plans. A second article, in an upcoming issue of JACR, explores the current status of radiologists' retirement plans.
-
The Resource Based Relative Value System (RBRVS) was established over fifteen years ago in an attempt to bring order to the Medicare reimbursement system. The RBRVS relies on a complicated formula to determine how much each procedure is worth. This article uses an unusual approach to describe the components of the RBRVS equation, how those relative values are developed and managed, and how they relate to each other, even though each one is calculated differently.
-
The use of race, sex, and ethnicity in medical admissions represents one of the most important ethical and political issues currently before United States medical schools and residency programs. Critics of diversity-weighted admissions argue that academic merit is the only just basis for preferring one applicant over another, that underrepresented groups are difficult to define and constantly changing, and that using preferences to remedy past wrongs merely perpetuates discrimination. Proponents argue that past discrimination must be redressed, that the profession of medicine must produce physicians who mirror the population they serve, and that grades and test scores are not the only way of predicting who will be a good physician. When it comes to the role of diversity in medical school and residency admissions, there is no room for ignorance or apathy, because the futures of both medicine and radiology hang in the balance.