Medical Imaging

Data shows that imaging equipment in rural regions of the country operates 48 percent of the time an office is open, while equipment in non-rural areas operates 56 percent of the time a center is open for business.

President Obama recently recommended CMS base its reimbursement formula on a 95 percent utilization rate for advanced imaging equipment. MedPAC has recommended 90 percent for equipment that costs more than $1 million.

The utilization assumption is a key component of the Medicare formula. Dramatically increasing the utilization assumption results in a severe cut for imaging reimbursements.

Spending on advanced imaging has already decreased significantly since 2005 and imaging use has essentially flattened due to low reimbursement rates. More imaging reimbursement cuts will severely disrupt access to diagnostic services, including long waits for appointments, and patients driving long distances to find an office that has equipment. Medicare reduces costs without appearing to reduce rates. Hmmm! This is just the beginning of rationing, without using the word 'rationing'.

Hitler Quote

“What luck for the rulers that men do not think.” - Adolf Hitler

News

If you don't watch the news you are uninformed.
If you do watch the news you are misinformed.

George Washington

George Washington spent about 7% of his annual salary on liquor.

Quotable

Life is like a sandwich - the more you add to it, the better it becomes.

Quotable

Not everything that counts can be counted, and
not everything that can be counted counts.

California Going Bookless

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced plans to phase out school textbooks in favor of digital learning aids.

The measure will allow California schoolchildren to ditch traditional math and science textbooks for digital versions later this year, the (Terminator) Governor told schoolchildren in Sacramento.

"The textbooks are outdated, as far as I'm concerned, and there's no reason why our schools should have our students lug around these antiquated and heavy and expensive textbooks."

California is the first state in the United States to introduce such an initiative. The move comes as Schwarzenegger looks to slash spending across a range of sectors in a bid to narrow California's projected 24 billion dollar budget deficit.

With the average price of a school textbook coming in it around 100 dollars, Schwarzenegger said initial savings from the plan would be between 300-400 million dollars. If the scheme was widened to cover more subjects, hundreds of millions more would be trimmed from the annual budget, he said. Next, some namby pamby organization will be asking for a tax increase to pay for the PCs to read the digital books.

How Much is a Trillion

If you counted 24 hours a day, it would take 31,688 years to reach one trillion.

Loch Ness Nessie Debunked

Remember this famous shot? British surgeon Robert Kenneth Wilson claimed he took the photograph while driving along the northern shore of Loch Ness. He said he noticed something moving in the water and stopped his car to take a photo. For decades this photo was considered to be the best evidence of the existence of a sea monster in the Loch. It came to be known as "The Surgeon's Photo."

It wasn't until 1994 that the secret of the image was revealed, when a man named Christian Spurling, shortly before his death at the age of 90, made a confession. He described a plot involving Wilson, himself, and big-game hunter Marmaduke Wetherell (his stepfather).

Wetherell dreamed up the hoax. He asked Spurling to make a model of a serpent. Spurling did this by attaching a serpent's head and neck to a toy submarine. This model was then photographed in Loch Ness, and the picture given to Wilson, whose job it was to serve as a credible front-man for the hoax. The image given to the media was cropped to hide perspective, making the "monster" appear larger than it actually was.

Checkmate

The word 'Checkmate' in chess comes from the Persian phrase 'Shah Mat,' which means 'the king is dead'.

Iceberg Hoax

Many of you have seen this famous picture and it is also used on some motivational posters.

It's actually a composite of four different photographs taken in Alaska, Antarctica, and California created by nature photographer Ralph Clevenger.

Afghanistan

The only nation who's name begins with an 'A' , but doesn't end in an 'A' is Afghanistan.

New Fillings

A calcium phosphate nanocomposite filling in a tooth can smartly release decay-fighting agents to buffer against acids produced by bacteria, and rebuild the lost tooth minerals by releasing ions into the mineral-deficient area of the tooth.

70 percent of all dental procedures involve replacements to existing repairs, at a cost of $5 billion per year in the United States alone. Now, scientists at the American Dental Association’s Paffenbarger Research Center, have shown that nanotechnology has the potential to lessen that toll by producing tooth restorations that are both stronger than any decay-fighting fillings available today, and more effective at preventing secondary decay.

A dentist creates the filling by mixing the pure liquid resin with a powder that contains coloring, reinforcement and other materials, packing the resulting paste into the cavity, and illuminating the tooth with a light that causes the paste to polymerize and harden. Makes me smile just thinking about.

Merle Haggard, Outlaw

Long before he was an outlaw country crooner, Merle Haggard was a real outlaw. At 20, Haggard and a few friends planned to rob a restaurant.

They got drunk and waited until 3 o'clock in the morning, when they knew it would be empty, but when they broke in, they were surprised to find the restaurant full of people. Turns out, in their drunken haze, they accidentally wandered in at 10:30 pm. The attempted burglary landed Haggard in San Quentin State Prison, where he saw Johnny Cash perform three times, inspiring him to pick guitars instead of locks.