The medical imaging industry has been challenged the past few years as it struggles to prove its value in a shifting health care environment.

To show its worth, the Medical Imaging and Technology Alliance (MITA), the industry lobby, announced the launch of a brand new campaign called Imaging Forward on Monday.

"Imaging Forward puts a long overdue spotlight on the myriad ways in which imaging has transformed patient care and, more broadly, the practice of medicine by helping to improve diagnosis and treatment, avoid unnecessary procedures, and lower costs by minimizing unnecessary procedures," said Gail Rodriguez, executive director of MITA, in a statement.
Not only will the campaign highlight, through a variety of multimedia channels, the progress the field has made over the past 20 years, but it will also emphasize the next wave of imaging technologies.

"Medical imaging innovation has helped transform modern health care. Imaging exams reduce invasive surgeries, unnecessary hospital admissions, length of hospital stays and are directly linked to greater life expectancy. Every day, worldwide, medical imaging leads to earlier diagnoses, better, more targeted treatment and lives saved that, in the past, may have been lost," said Paul H. Ellenbogen, MD, FACR, chair of the American College of Radiology Board of Chancellors.

Ever since the Deficit Reduction Act went into effect in 2007, imaging has been subject to numerous reimbursement cuts over the years. And more recently, this has been on top of more cuts under the Affordable Care Act. MITA also cited the adverse effects of the 2.3 percent medical device excise tax that it said could hinder innovation from device manufacturers.

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