In this issue, you will find:

The American Society of Neuroradiology and the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) are co-sponsoring an interactive training program in comparative effectiveness research (CER) targeted to junior faculty and senior trainees in the imaging sciences.

The program will begin in July 2018 and continue over the course of a year, consisting of:

Application Deadline: April 30, 2018. Limited spaces available

To see what the eligibility acceptance criteria are, please click here. For instructions and the application form, go to RSNA.org/CERT. If you have questions, please contact RSNA Staff at [email protected] or 630-368-3742.

Thank you to those who contributed in February. Join your colleagues and donate now! First-time donors will be matched 2-to-1 by the ASNR and Foundation boards!

Hardik Valand BS, MS-IV, American University of Integrative Sciences. 

Raymond K Tu MD MS FACR, Progressive Radiology, United Medical Center, The George Washington University, Washington, DC.

“Social Determinants of Health (SDH)” are little known to neuroradiologists. SDH are recognized as key influences to healthcare. The American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR) annual meeting will be the first national radiology meeting where SDH will be defined, discussed and appear in any major body of radiology literature. SDH is a key factor in the discrepancy between healthcare spending and outcome. The World Health Organization ( WHO) defines SDH as conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. ¹   Health plans, independent of how funded, must measure and adjust for SDH-factors as paid maternity leave, childhood development, access and cost to education, income and its distribution, social exclusion, ethnic heterogeneity, immigration, firearm and drug-related deaths. Inevitably social determinants of healthcare create risk and influence all areas of medicine.  

WHO defines human rights to health as “the individuals’ rights to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which includes access to all medical services , sanitation, adequate food, decent housing, healthy working conditions, and a clean environment.” ² The United States (US) is the only major developed country that does not provide all citizens universal healthcare coverage. ³  With the ASNR Annual Meeting in Vancouver, BC, it is fitting that a critical comparison between the Canadian and US systems will be discussed at several sessions. The US-Canadian border, the longest international border in the word between 2 countries, extends 5,425 miles of which 1,538 is shared with Alaska. (The US- Mexican border is 1,922 miles). ⁴ Despite our shared border, heritage, culture, language, and name of our respective currency, health delivery systems are different. Canada has a two-tier publicly-funded universal healthcare, whereas the US has multiple complex systems as a State and Federal subsidized system (Medicaid), prepaid system (Medicare), and employer-sponsored private insurance. Differing access and utilization profiles of MR (Magnetic Resonance) and CT (Computed Tomography) services between Canada and the US are striking. The insured in the U.S. system enjoy timely care and easy access to services such as MRI and CT; not so for the 28.2 million uninsured US citizens . ⁵ Canadians on the other hand have universal access to less expensive care, but prolonged wait times for procedures and imaging. Which is superior? If longevity is your ruler, Canadians live longer. Differences between the US and Canada may be explained by Social Determinants of Health and the demand on health resources between our 2 countries. Stay tuned for more at the ASNR Annual Meeting in Vancouver, BC, Canada. 

As a reminder, please help your ASNR RUC team by participating in RUC Surveys! We currently need survey responses regarding CT Spine imaging codes. Please participate at your earliest convenience if you have received a survey! As you may know, the Medicare payment schedule is based on physician work, practice expense and professional liability insurance. Our society needs your help to assure relative values will be accurately and fairly presented to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

In order for the ASNR to make recommendations to the RUC on physician work, and to ensure appropriate payment for the CPT codes, we will need to obtain as many surveys as possible. Therefore, we ask for your help in the survey process since over 90% of the RUC recommendations for physician work RVUs have been accepted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for their fee schedule, which then may be used by other payers as well. Please complete a survey if you receive one from us! If you have any questions or comments, please contact Rahul Bhala, Director of Economics, Health Policy, and Research at [email protected]. 

Mark your calendar now for the following 2018 Annual Meetings:

Do you like to plan your travels in advance? Keep up-to-date with all ASNR and all ASNR specialty and regional society meetings here.