President's Message 5/13/2005

May 13, 2005

Dear members:

I am honored to serve as the President of the Indiana Radiological Society for 2005-06. This is a great organization and, thanks to the many activities of its members, we can make an impact on the practice of radiology in Indiana.

The Indiana Radiological Society and American College of Radiology have been very active in a number of important activities that affect us as practicing radiologists. One of our top priorities is overutilization and/or inappropriate use of imaging, especially self-referred imaging performed by non-radiologists. It has been well documented that the marked increase in health care costs associated with increased utilization of imaging procedures is largely due to the acquisition of imaging equipment by non-radiologists. These physicians profit from collection of the technical fees for the exams they order. In addition, they often also collect all or part of the professional fees by reading their own examinations or controlling the reimbursement to contracted radiologists. Many of our members have been working on this issue with the ACR and state legislature for the past 2 years. This was one of our key issues when our Indiana delegation went to Capital Hill during the ACR Annual Meeting and Chapter Leadership Conference in April, 2005.

The spring meeting of the Indiana Radiological Society was held on March 12, 2005 at the Skyline Club in Indianapolis. Our guest speaker was Dr. Steve Amis, President of the ACR. He discussed the ACR's efforts to reduce inappropriate utilization of imaging, self-referral, and the need to uphold high standards for imaging quality.

I have two major goals for my term as IRS President:

• Establish a coordinated effort with the ACR regarding self-referral and inappropriate utilization of imaging. The IRS Legislative Committee will meet in Indianapolis on May 18 to continue work on this issue.
  
  
• Get more IRS members and radiology residents actively involved in our society. I need your help to encourage attendance at meetings and involvement in the issues that will vitally affect your practice in the future. Please let me know any suggestions you have to improve our meetings.

I encourage each of you to become actively involved in the Indiana Radiological Society. The same small group of radiologists regularly attend our meetings and do a great deal of work for the Society. We need your help! Please contact me if you want to get more involved. I hope to see you at the Fall IRS meeting, on Saturday, October 15, 2005. For current society information, visit our Web site at www.inrad.org.

Sincerely,

Valerie P. Jackson, MD, FACR
President, Indiana Radiological Society