Podcast: The Impact of Health Reform on Radiology

Radiology is front and center in health care reform. That’s according to James V. Rawson, MD, chair of the Medical College of Georgia radiology department at Georgia Health Sciences University. The growing use of imaging studies, which has leveled off, makes radiology a target — but gives radiologists a chance to be step up as leaders in reform.

Rawson co-edited the recent issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology along with Ruth Carlos, MD, an abdominal radiology professor at the University of Michigan. Rawson also wrote an article in the issue on the roots of health care reform, which he says was a response to chronic unresolved issues in the health care system, including universal health, population demographics, and value.

Rawson chairs the ACR Committee on Governmental and Regulatory Issues on Academic Radiology and served as a member of the CMS Ambulatory Payment Classification Advisory Panel. He’s also a board member of the ACR’s Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute.

In this podcast, Rawson explains:

• The impacts of reform on the practicing radiologist,
• The ongoing trend of practice mergers and hospital acquisitions,
• What the industry can do to further ensure appropriate use of medical imaging,
• And what the November presidential election will mean for the industry.