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FRS Membership
Dues |
Please contact the American College of Radiology Membership Services at (800) 347-7748 to pay your 2024 Florida Radiological Society membership dues. |
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| Meet Your 2024 - 2025 FRS Executive Committee |
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President
Juan Batlle, MD, FACR |
President Elect
Andrew Bowman, MD, PhD |
Treasurer
Edem Chen, MD |
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Secretary
James Banks, MD |
Past President
Laura Vallow, MD |
Radiation Oncology, Chair
Jennifer Peterson, MD |
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Letter from the Editor |
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Seasoning transforms a simple meal into a masterpiece. It requires an understanding of ingredients, culinary experience, fine-tuned senses and the right conditions to achieve that perfect balance. This is no less true for radiologists and radiation oncologists where the nuances of interpreting images and the ability to effectively convey findings are refined over time. |
Initially, a trainee may feel like a shiny, unseasoned skillet. It takes repeated exposure to varied cases, the occasional mishap, and the wisdom gleaned from colleagues and mentors to truly begin to season one's skills. Each patient contributes to that depth—each diagnostic and therapeutic challenge adds layers of understanding that can only be achieved through time and effort. Seasoned expertise allows us to identify subtle abnormalities that others might miss and to provide insights that guide patient care like a chef perfecting a recipe. It allows physicians to be able to make timely and accurate decisions for optimal patient care.
Just as a skilled chef takes the time to season a pan or dish, allowing flavors to meld and deepen, a seasoned radiologist is cultivated with years of practice, learning, and experience. A seasoned radiologist brings an enriched understanding to the table, one a value that should not be overlooked by those outside our profession. Our careers are ongoing journeys with new challenges and advancements requiring us to learn new clinical and non-clinical skills, well beyond the minimum requirements for licensing. We should consider factors that contribute to optimal seasoning when developing strategies for improving residency training and continuing medical education. It is my hope that we all continue to season our own skills and those of our trainees and peers so we may all better serve our patients and our profession.
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Warm regards,
James Banks, MD
Secretary, FRS |
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FRS President's Message |
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Welcome to Fall, Florida Radiological Society!
About 400 fewer radiologists chose to be members of the ACR this year as compared to last year (nationally). That was split evenly between loss of new-member registrations (200 fewer new-member registrations nationally) and increased attrition (200 ACR members chose to non-renew).
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I think engagement has been a huge issue for all of us at all levels of our profession, from national to local. The workforce issue has led to many of us working longer hours and losing opportunities to spend time off in organized radiology activities. We understand that, and we are looking to help however we can and listening to your stories.
We have made the winter FRS board meeting all-virtual so that more folks can participate.
We are gearing our annual meeting to be of utmost practical value to the modern-day radiologist.
Communication is paramount-- we need our members and potential members to know that the FRS and ACR are working tirelessly at the state and national levels to advocate for their members. Billions of dollars have been saved from cuts intended to the national/federal radiology budget. But membership drives that advocacy. So, if you have an opportunity, please encourage recent trainees or younger members of your practice to join the FRS/ACR. And if you have colleagues considering non-renewal, let them know the value of membership to them and their profession. The ACR nationally is doing its part, making difficult cuts to staffing and budget, leading to significantly improved net operating results for 2024. Our new CEO, Dana Smetherman, is a few months into office, and hopefully we can provide her a strong base for future success, which starts with us at the state chapter level.
Thanks for listening, as always. |
Juan Batlle, MD, FACR
President, Florida Radiological Society
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FRBMA President's Message |
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New Proposed MR Safety Assessment CPT Codes
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in its Proposed Rule for 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) proposed new CPT codes that would finally address the additional labor involved in imaging patients who have contraindications for MRI. |
"These tasks can include looking up the patient’s medical record or the specifics of implants/devices, performing risk/benefit analyses for patients with complications, planning risk-mitigating steps for MRI exams for patients with complications, and preparing MRI-specific programming for MR conditional active devices (such as pacemakers) before and after exams, according to Tobias Gilk, founder of Gilk Radiology Consultants in Overland Park, KS, and senior vice president of Radiology-Planning in Mission, KS." (Aunt Minnie, 2025).
MR Safety Determination CPT Codes for Hospitals and Imaging Centers:
The first two proposed CPT codes are practice expense codes that would be billed by the hospital or imaging center when an MRI technologist and/or medical physicist performs an MRI safety assessment. A written report of the safety assessment by the technologist and/or physicist is required.
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CPT code 76014 - Initial 15 minutes to perform an MR safety implant and/or foreign body assessment by trained clinical staff (MRI technologist and/or medical physicist). Written report required. Includes review of these sources:
- identification and verification of implant components from appropriate sources (e.g. patient's patient record)
- analyzing current MR conditional status of individual components and systems (e.g. calling the device vendor and/or reviewing vendor’s published documents)
- Consulting published professional guidance (e.g. consulting www.mrisafety.com)
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| CPT code 76015 - Each additional 30 minutes. Must be billed with CPT 76014. May be billed up to three times per encounter. |
MR Safety Determination CPT Codes for
Radiologists Performed Prior to DOS for MR:
The additional four proposed CPT codes are professional codes that would be billed by the radiologist after a report was written. The first, CPT 76016, can be done on any DOS prior to the DOS of the MR. |
| CPT code 76016 (estimated 0.60 wRVUs) – For any DOS – MR safety medical physics examination customization, planning and performance monitoring by medical physicist or MR safety expert, with review and analysis by physician or qualified health care professional to prioritize and select views and imaging sequences, to tailor MR acquisition specific to restrictive requirements or artifacts associated with MR conditional implants or to mitigate risk of non-conditional implants or foreign bodies with written report |
MR Safety Service CPT Codes for Radiologists on the same
DOS of the MR Exam: |
CPT code 76017 (estimated 0.76 wRVUs) – MR safety medical physics examination customization, planning and performance monitoring by medical physicist or MR safety expert, with review and analysis by physician or qualified health care professional to prioritize and select views and imaging sequences, to tailor MR acquisition specific to restrictive requirements or artifacts associated with MR conditional implants or to mitigate risk of non-conditional implants or foreign bodies with written report
CPT code 76018 (estimated 0.75 wRVUs) - MR safety implant electronics preparation under supervision of physician or other qualified health care professional, including MR-specific programming of pulse generator and/or transmitter to verify device integrity, protection of device internal circuitry from MR electromagnetic fields, and protection of patient from risks of unintended stimulation or heating while in the MR room with written report
CPT code 76019 (estimated 0.60 wRVUs) - MR safety implant positioning and/or immobilization under supervision of physician or qualified health care professional, including application of physical protections to secure implanted medical device from MR-induced translational or vibrational forces, magnetically induced functional changes, and/or prevention of radiofrequency burns from inadvertent tissue contact while in the MR room with written report |
A written report by the radiologist is required for each of the above four CPT codes; setting up a template in the radiologist's dictation software with all the required components would allow for the report to be easily created.
Mechanism for Billing These CPT Codes:
To bill for the MRI safety assessment report, your billing department or outsourced billing company needs to receive that written report. One option would be to have an order created in the radiology information system (RIS) so that the radiologist or APP could dictate and sign a report. This report would be sent to the billing department via the HL7 interface just like any CT or x-ray report. This option would essentially be free to implement, but the hospitals may be not be in favor of creating these non-imaging orders in the RIS.
A second option would be to have a consultation created in the hospital’s EHR much like orders are created for interventional radiologist consultations. The radiologist or APP would dictate the safety report into the hospital’s EHR. As most radiology groups do not have an interface from the hospital’s EHR to their billing department, an additional step would be needed to notify the billing department that this safety report was completed. Many groups utilize a tool such as pMD.com to notify their billing departments that an evaluation and management (E&M) or consultation report was completed. The four new CPT codes, 7xx02, 7xx03, 7xx04, and 7xx05, could be added to pMD.com and reported whenever the radiologist or APP writes an MRI safety assessment report. The one drawback to utilizing pMD (and other third-party software) to report these assessments is the cost of the program. pMD charges for each clinician, so adding every radiologist to pMD and training them on the program will be expensive.
Using These Codes:
Your radiologists and MR technologists are likely already spending time reviewing medical charts, contacting device vendors, and weighing risks versus benefits. Some specific examples of when radiology groups might be doing this research to determine MR compatibility include:- Aneurysm coils
- Aneurysm clips
- Heart valves
- Pacemakers
Radiologists are likely also talking to patients about foreign objects such as bullets and shrapnel to determine how old the foreign objects are and from where they originated. Potentially, all of these discussions with vendors and patients could be billable under these new MR safety assessment CPT codes depending on the final definitions that are published by CMS and the AMA.
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Janene W. Markuske, MBA, FRBMA
President, FRBMA |
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Legislative Update |
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We are five days out from the election and I for one am ready for the ads to end.
In Florida, we anticipate the Florida House and Senate to remain in Republican control. Organizational Session is planned for November 19th and the leadership will be officially elected by their respective chambers and the new members will be sworn into office.
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December will start committee meetings with each chamber alternating weeks to start. Session officially commences on March 4, 2025.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions on candidates. |
Alison Dudley Lobbyist, FRS
AlisonDudley@dudleyandassociates.com |
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Job Posting Opportunities |
Florida Radiological Society is pleased to introduce the opportunity for interested parties to advertise for potential jobs in our monthly FRS Ebrief bulletin.
Advertisement pricing is as follows:
Ebrief Job Posting pricing:
- 3 months ($100 monthly)
- 6 months ($90 monthly)
- 12 months ($80 monthly)
Please contact Lorraine Roger, our Society Administrator for further information on how to advertise in our monthly publication.
Phone: (813) 806-1070
Fax: (813) 806-1071
Email: lroger@flrad.org
We feel that this will provide a valuable service to both our members and our Florida community of Radiology. |
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Become A PAC Member Today |
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Attention FRBMA Members! Please support the cause. We encourage you to be PAC members and supporters; you do not have to belong to the FRS. Donations can be made online through our PAC website www.FLRADPAC.org. Thank you for your donation.
It is critical that we support both our Florida PAC and RADPAC in order to bolster our voice in Tallahassee and Washington, respectively. Please join FRS lobbyist Alison Dudley in her special appeal for all Florida radiologists to become Florida PAC members. If you would like to help FRS defend radiology against untoward legislation and introduce bills that have a positive impact on our practices, we need your financial support to re-elect our friends in the state House and Senate. The FRS can also show you simplified ways on how to sign up your radiology group. Contact Lorraine Roger or contact Alison Dudley for more information. |
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Telephone (813) 806-1070
Fax (813) 806-1071
5620 W. Sligh Avenue
Tampa, Florida 33634 |
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| The E-Brief is an exclusive member benefit of Florida Radiological Society, delivering monthly member, chapter and industry news. Please do not reply to this automatic e-mail. For comments or questions about the E-Brief, please contact lroger@flrad.org. |
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