title: Pre-certification: lessons from diagnostic imaging.
abstract: Recently, managed care has received a great deal of criticism from the public and press, some of it richly deserved. One of the areas of greatest concern is pre-certification requirements and possible denial of services. Experience with programs of this sort in diagnostic imaging suggests that, implemented correctly, the consultative interface created by a pre-certification program can be of tremendous value in physician education. Appropriate behavior modification programs need to be crafted with an educational rather than economic bias and the methodology not be totally abandoned simply because it has been misused by some. The pre-certification process can be used as a vehicle to disseminate information about rapidly emerging new therapies and technologies.
authors.affiliation: American Imaging Management Inc., Chicago, USA. soffad@aol.com
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Soffa
mesh_terms: D003363:Cost Control; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'