The American College of Radiology (ACR) released a statement yesterday charging that medical imaging cuts contained in the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule may restrict imaging services to large hospitals, produce longer commutes and wait times to receive care, and could cause delays in diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other serious illnesses.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Friday announced final changes for policy and payment rates during the 2010 calendar year, which, if implemented, could cut by up to 38 percent the amount doctors will receive when they use medical imaging equipment for procedures such as MRI and CT scans. The rule affects more than one million physicians and non-physician practitioners who are paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.

Merge Healthcare and medical device and services for diagnostic imaging provider Medrad have revealed their plan to expand their European Union distribution agreement for CADstream.

Most patients are dissatisfied with the efficacy of radiology reporting systems, according to a study published in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

iCAD reported a drop of in revenue in the third quarter of 2009, which ended Sept. 30.

NovaRad has installed its NovaRIS and NovaPACS technologies at two Kentucky imaging facilities.

The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston has released new screening guidelines for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers based on redefined risk-based categories for the public to follow.

Bassetlaw Hospital in Nottinghamshire, England, which is part of the U.K.'s Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has installed a Magentom Avanto 1.5 Tesla MRI, Artis zee Multipurpose C-arm and Somatom Sensation CT from Siemens Healthcare.