Podcast interview with Scott Cowsill of the Imaging e-Ordering Coalition

The Imaging e-Ordering Coalition is a group of medical imaging-related companies that are striving to have electronic ordering of diagnostic imaging coupled with e-prescribing as part of the Federal government's incentives for health information technology adoption. A not-so-hidden objective of the Coalition is to counter the influence of Radiology Benefit Managers (RBMs). From a June press release:

According to the Coalition, e-Ordering prevents many of the potential issues associated with radiology benefit managers (RBMs), which are organizations employed by some healthcare insurers to manage utilization and costs associated with high-tech diagnostic exams.  Concerns with the RBM model include regulatory oversight and a manually burdensome “prior authorization” system whereby physicians must receive approval before ordering an imaging service.  Under prior authorization, patients are often denied the imaging studies their physicians believe are warranted, are steered towards lower-precision tests that may not provide needed clinical information, or are forced to wait days or weeks to receive vital imaging services.  e-Ordering, on the other hand, provides physicians real-time, electronic access to pre-exam, case-by-case decisions that are linked to published, evidenced-based clinical studies and are tailored to a patient’s specific circumstances.

I spoke today with Scott Cowsill, co-founder of the e-Ordering Coalition. In addition to Scott's role with e-Ordering he is an employee of Nuance Communications, one of the Coalition members. Other members include the American College of Radiology, Center for Diagnostic Imaging, Connecticut State Medical Society - IPA, GE Healthcare, Insight Imaging, Life Image, Medicalis and MedCurrent.