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LOS ANGELES RADIOLOGICAL SOCIETY |
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LARS President's
Report 
Janak K. Raval, MD, FRCPC Dr. Raval, Little Company of Mary Hospital, has been a LARS Leader since July, 1996 when he joined the Continuing Education Committee. During his term on the CEC he was Program Chairman for the Midwinter Radiology Conference in 2000-2002. He was nominated to the LARS Board of Directors as Secretary in 2003 and has since served as Treasurer and President Elect. Dear Colleagues: I am both honored and humbled to serve as your President of the Los Angeles Radiological Society. As we enter this 87th year, LARS continues to be a great organization! It has served its mission well and the future looks bright and promising. As we are presented with new challenges in technology, legislation, reimbursement, and so forth, LARS will continue to present you with the latest information. It is important that we as Radiologists and Radiation Oncologists participate on a local (LARS), statewide (CRS) and national (ACR) level in the future of our specialties for the ultimate benefit of our patients. I urge each and every one of you to encourage your non-member associates to join our great organization to represent our interests. It has never been more important. Continue |
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ACR Councilors Report on the CRS Annual
Meeting
ACR Councilors:
Kenneth W. Chin, MD, FACR, Adam Sommerstein, MD, FACR, Nancy Ann
Ellerbroek, MD, FACR and George J. So, MD, MSE Click here for a summary of the CRS Executive Committees’ discussion. The Executive Session covered several items of immediate concern to radiologists and radiation oncologists including Self Referral Legislation, Balance Billing, Technologist Standards for PET/CT Units, Radiation Protection Legislation, the bill to require availability of an X-Ray Exposure Card, and regulatory matters. A concurrent half day program was held for radiology residents and fellows and included several speakers including the Past President of the ACR, Bill T. Thorwarth, Jr., M.D., FACR. Continue |
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Volunteer Opportunities The volunteers who share their time and energy to maintain LARS long-standing reputation as a provider of excellent, and cost effective CME education events, are organized into five governing bodies: The LARS Board of Directors, the SCROS Board of Directors, The Continuing Education Committee, The Nuclear Section Executive Committee and the Ultrasound Section Executive Committee. The officers of these committees change on July 1 on either a one-year or a two-year basis. Click here for a list of the 2006-2007 LARS/SCROS leaders. Volunteer opportunities are available!! Contact us if you would like to become more involved in the future of your profession. Share your comments with LARS/SCROS members. Visit the Forum to read members comments and add your own. |
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New Chairman of the LARS Website Committee Kenneth Wong, MD, SCROS member, has recently agreed to chair the LARS Website Committee, and becomes the newest member of the LARS Board of Directors. Dr. Wong was an active participant in development of the CCMA website, and has many ideas for the further development of the LARS site with plans well underway for a meeting calendar that will provide you with one-stop shopping for meetings. The calendar will be active soon - you'll want to place www.larad.org in your favorites. Dr. Wong is a member of Cancer Care Consultants Medical Associates, and serves as a Radiation Oncology staff member at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, Centinela Freeman Memorial Hospital and Citrus Valley Medical Center. |
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Meet the Continuing Education Committee Members of the LARS Continuing Education Committee, whose mission is, in part, "to provide CME activities that allow members...to remain current and respond to advances in diagnostic radiology, interventional radiology and radiation oncology, began planning the January 2007 Midwinter Conference in January 2006. George J. So, MD, MSE, Torrance Memorial Medical Center, CEC Senior Diagnostic Representative is Planning Chairman for the Radiology portion of the conference. He is also ACR Councilor for LARS and is a member of the Board of Directors. Dr. So is joined by Elizabeth Westfall, MD, Diagnostic Representative. |
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Take Advantage of Early Bird Pricing Register on the website before December 1 and deduct $25.00 from your tuition fees. |
The 59th Annual Midwinter Radiology Conference
59th Annual Midwinter Radiation Oncology Conference
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LARS/SCROS Junior Members Submit an application to Display a scientific poster at the Midwinter Meeting. Principle authors on posters accepted for display receive complimentary tuition. |
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Hospital Lien Act The Hospital Lien Act is incorporated in the California Civil Code, at Sections 3045.1 through 3045.6 (“HLA”), and provides that a hospital that treats a patient who is injured by a third party may assert a lien against any settlement, compromise or judgment obtained by the patient from the third party tortfeasor, in an amount equal to the “reasonable and necessary charges” incurred to treat the patient. Continue |
LARS INSURANCE
COMMITTEE REPORT The last quarter of 2007 is upon us and we are still standing on the edge of a cliff. The Congress has stalled once again on fixing the Medicare payment formula (the infamous sustainable growth rate) and has not acted on bipartisan bills (see below) to prevent the drastic imaging cuts mandated by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) to take place in 2007, less than 2 months away. Now that our Congress is out on the campaign trail, we only have the “lame-duck” Congress to look forward to in order to solve our problems after the November mid-term elections. What a predicament! Despite this predicament, I am very hopeful that, with the strong bipartisan support in Congress, these bills to delay the DRA mandated imaging cuts will pass in some form or another before the bewitching hour. Furthermore, although the Medicare payment formula will not be fixed this year, I do expect Congress to act as they have before to prevent Medicare cuts at the last minute. With that said, it remains imperative that we stay focused and keep up the political pressure on Congress to act. Continue |
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Residents' Perspective The CRS Resident and Fellow Section (RFS) held a successful gathering on Oct. 21, 2006 in conjunction with the annual meeting of the California Radiological Society in Newport Beach. We were fortunate to have ACR luminaries such as Dr. Bill Thorwath and Dr. David Levin speak to us about the precarious state of our profession. Dr. Thorwarth's presentation focused on the importance of getting and staying involved in organized radiology and Dr. Levin spoke of his long battle against self-referral. Continue |
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SPONSORING A POLITICAL FUNDRAISER 101 Invited article Alyssa Watanabe MD, LARS member I have been invited by LARS to report on a political fundraiser which was held on September 28, 2006. This fundraiser was hosted by Dr. George So, CalRadPAc and me on behalf of State Assemblyman Ted Lieu. I decided to sponsor a political fundraiser after I attended an ACR meeting a few years ago. It was at that meeting that I realized that a grassroots effort to impact health policy can be significant. Political lobbying and financial support of candidates are a fact of life in the United States. The key take-home point from the ACR is that it is important for radiologists to take active roles in our future. There are dramatic changes occurring in imaging today and many more changes to come. As imaging utilization grows, politicians must find ways to reduce overall Medicare costs. The political machine is what will determine the final outcome of how healthcare dollars are allocated. Continue
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LARS MEMBERSHIP
Congratulations on Your Retirement Aaron Esrig, MD Membership Dues Invoices for 2007 membership dues were mailed in October and we've had an avalanche of responses, for which we thank you very much. Remember - your dues must be current to take advantage of reduced tuition to LARS-sponsored events - and one of the biggest is right around the corner. Membership in LARS and SCROS is available for Physicians and Technologists. Membership benefits include reduced tuition to LARS/SCROS-sponsored education events. Click here for membership information and applications.
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