SCMR Newsletter - October 2019

SCMR Launches Heart MRI Awareness Initiative

The SCMR is excited to announce a new awareness initiative and website, HeartMRI.org. The purpose of the initiative is to promote the value of CMR to the public, patients, and physicians. SCMR CEO, Chiara Bucciarelli-Ducci and Board member, Michael Salerno were in New York City being interviewed by several media and news outlets. See full interviews here. The awareness campaign was initiated by the the SCMR Corporate Advisory Board to help raise awareness of CMR and additional initiatives are planned.

Thanks again to the SCMR Corporate Advisory Board:

Arterys
Bayer
Circle Cardiovascular Imaging
Cohesic
GE Healthcare
Guerbet
Heart Imaging Technologies
Medis Medical Imaging Systems
Myocardial Solutions
NeoSoft
Philips
Siemens Healthineers

SCMR Earns Seat in the AMA Specialty and Service Society (SSS) Caucus

SCMR is proud to announce that the Rules Committee of the American Medical Association (AMA) has accepted our application and recommends that SCMR be seated for membership in the AMA Specialty and Service Society (SSS) Caucus. SCMR will be seated on November 16, 2019, when the SSS officially votes on the AMA Rules Committee report. By joining the SSS, SCMR will strengthen the voice of cardiovascular medicine to include representation from the cardiovascular magnetic resonance community.

SCMR Submits Letter Addressing Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System rule for 2020

SCMR recently submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in opposition to proposed cuts in technical component reimbursement for CMR services, as outlined under the proposed 2020 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) rule. Our goal is to ensure that CMR services are appropriately and adequately reimbursed in the hospital outpatient setting.

Name the New SCMR Store - Prize for Winner

The SCMR will be launching a new online store featuring a collection of logo products (ex. mugs, hats, t-shirts). We're looking for SCMR members to suggest a name for the new store and the winning suggestion will receive a free product of their choice! Please send your suggested names to SCMR Headquarters by November 15th to be considered. Store will be open just in time for the holidays.

New Why CMR Resources - Pediatric / Congenital Heart Disease

SCMR is excited to announce ten new "Why CMR" resources now available. Developed by several members of the Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease Special Interest Group (SIG), the documents serve as a resource showing the areas where CMR has a distinct advantage. Thank you to Tarique Hussain, Tiffanie Johnson, Laura Olivieri and others from the SIG who contributed: Brian Fonseca, Nadine Choueiter, Francesca Pluchinotta, Anne Marie Valente, Adrian Dyer, Rahul Rathod, Malenka Bissell, Divya Shakti, Ruchira Garg, Wadi Mawad, Anuj Pareek, Shafkat Anwar, Tal Geva, Nilanjana Misra, Taylor Chung, Rebecca Beroukhim, Jennifer Co-Vu, Victoria Stoll.

NIH Researchers Develop MRI with Lower Magnetic Field for Cardiac Imaging

National Institutes of Health researchers have developed a high-performance, low magnetic-field MRI system that vastly improves image quality of the lungs and other internal structures of the human body. The new system is more compatible with interventional devices that could greatly enhance image-guided procedures that diagnose and treat disease, and the system makes medical imaging more affordable and accessible for patients.