The Federal FDA's recently announced radiation exposure-reduction initiative acknowledges the vital need for industry-wide quality and safety measures like the one which HealthHelp provides its payer clients.
HealthHelp provides a suite of services that help prevent illnesses that result from unnecessary radiation exposure by ensuring that patients receive the right tests at the right times in high-quality facilities.
HealthHelp improves the quality of care and lowers radiology costs by enhancing physician knowledge, which changes long-term ordering patterns for high-tech imaging procedures like CT and cardiac nuclear medicine. Its programs also set quality standards for imaging facilities, ensure procedures are performed by qualified physicians using high-quality equipment, help payers establish quality provider networks, and educate patients about the benefits and risks of imaging procedures.
HealthHelp has also begun to apply its framework to radiation oncology. It ensures that radiation oncology treatment plans conform to evidence-based protocols. This helps to prevent recurring cancers, which can result from ineffective radiation delivery, secondary cancers caused by unnecessary radiation to healthy tissue, and side effects, which can require additional treatment.
Mark Hiatt, executive vice president and medical director of HealthHelp, said: “We are proud to support and enable effective payer initiatives that are already in place to achieve radiation reduction goals. HealthHelp’s model proves that quality and safety don’t have to suffer to reduce health care spending. In fact, quality and safety initiatives produce long-term, sustained savings.”
Cherrill Farnsworth, president, founder and CEO of HealthHelp and a member of the National Quality Forum (NQF), said: “We have long worked with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other congressional and regulatory bodies on radiology quality and safety issues, and we look forward to serving as a resource to the FDA as it works to reduce radiation exposure. We are heartened to see that the FDA shares our vision for reducing unnecessary radiation.”