Franklin, Tennessee, November 2011 – Regents Health Resources was honored to host Congressman Marsha Blackburn in their offices in Franklin, Tennessee.   As a follow-up to a meeting held earlier in this year in Washington, the Congressman dropped by to discuss the current state of imaging as a part of healthcare and the challenges facing our industry.  To represent the imaging industry, several imaging professionals were invited to add first person insight to the discussions.  Luann Culbreth, President, AHRA and Executive Director of Imaging, Cardiology and Oncology, Saint Thomas Health, Nashville, Tennessee was present sharing the perspective of the almost 4,000 AHRA members and their facilities.  Sheila Sferrella joined the group from Saint Thomas as well.  As the VP of ambulatory services, she added insight along with Michael Moreland, CEO Advanced Diagnostic Imaging Nashville, Tennessee on the advantages of new physician models like those announced earlier this year between Saint Thomas and ADI.

The almost one hour visit and discussions covered a wide range of topics including dramatic changes in utilization trends nationally and the negative impact further cuts via technical and professional multi-procedure bundling would have. Other topics discussed included Meaningful-Use related to imaging, the impact of self-referral and the urgent need to fix the pending cuts imposed by the current SGR rules.

The Congressman (she prefers this title) demonstrated a deep and technical knowledge of healthcare and imaging during the lively discourse summing up her visit by indicating “she is on our side”.  The Congressman recently displayed her support by co-sponsoring H.R. 3269 introduced October 27, 2011 supporting no further bundling cuts without study.

L-R: Jason Hatchette, Regents; Bob Maier, Regents; Luann Culbreth, AHRA, Saint Thomas; Congressman Marsha Blackburn; Sheila Sfrerrella, Saint Thomas; Michael Moreland, ADI; Brian Baker, Regents.