Why What You Do Matters

August 15, 2007 | The Big Picture

Newt Gingrich understands the true issue facing imaging today. In fact, after hearing him speak recently about why diagnostic imaging got “mugged” by the DRA, I am convinced more than ever that our profession’s leadership needs focus, new ideas, and momentum. It is a theme that I have... Read More »

Inland Imaging’s 4-Part Strategic IT Deployment

July 15, 2007 | Radinformatics

In my 25 years of information technology (IT) management in four completely different industries (distribution, agricultural biotechnology, process manufacturing, and now health care), I have found that if IT is considered a strategic resource, rather than a pure cost-savings resource, the systems efforts will be more likely to succeed. Many... Read More »

IMV: Single-Site Imaging Centers to Take Brunt of DRA

July 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

A survey of imaging center administrators polled right after the first quarter revealed that more than half the administrators anticipated significant, measurable declines in revenue in 2007, according to Mary C. Patton, director, market research, IMV Medical Information Division. “Some of that is due to DRA and some is not... Read More »

Harvard Business Review: The Opposable Mind

July 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

Instead of focusing on the actions of successful leaders, an article in the June issue of the Harvard Business Review by Roger Martin looks at how successful leaders think. Martin has spent the past 15 years studying winning leaders and concludes that they all share the predisposition and ability to... Read More »

CXOFiles No.3 Marcia Flaherty: Vetting Business Opportunities at Riverside Radiology

July 15, 2007 | CXO Files

Many business opportunities for radiology groups become mired in an inability to act in the private practice sector. In order to explore the dynamics that facilitate entrepreneurial action within radiology practices, ImagingBiz.com identified a practice that has successfully developed several new service lines in the past five years:... Read More »

Radiology’s Balanced Scorecard

July 15, 2007 | The Big Picture

In business, as in life itself, success is all about balance. And in the business of radiology, balance is among the most important factors that can determine the fate of the practice. Take any position or point of view to its extreme and the result is alienation, tension, and,... Read More »

Carrot Approach to Radiologist Compensation

June 12, 2007 | Legislative Report

A creative radiologist compensation plan is critical for improving group and individual performance as well as attracting and retaining talent. Transforming your practice from a traditional to an incentive-based compensation plan can be accomplished through this three-phase process:

Phase I. Review and Prioritize. This phase involves an... Read More »

Business Guru Weighs in on Radiology Leadership Issues

June 12, 2007 | Legislative Report

In an extensive interview to be featured in the April issue of Imaging Economics, Jim Collins, researcher, business guru, and author of the best-selling Good to Great, shed perspective on radiology’s current harsh climate and offered a glimpse of the focus of his next book, based on five... Read More »

Doshi Diagnostics Q & A: Strategy and the DRA

June 12, 2007 | Legislative Report

As the Deficit Reduction Act worked its way first through the machinery of the legislative process and then, later, through the millwork of implementation, imaging center operators around the country hoped they somehow might be able to scupper the part of the law affecting them before the DRA could... Read More »

High Tech Imaging Utilization Soars Among Nonradiologists

June 12, 2007 | Utilization Metrics

David C. Levin, MD, unleashed a powerful tool for radiology in the form of newly crunched data illustrating the role of self-referral in the rapid growth of high-tech imaging. Presenting on Recent Trends in Utilization of the Major Imaging Modalities at the RBMA 2007 Summit in St Louis, MO, Levin... Read More »

SIIM 2007 Report

June 12, 2007 | Legislative Report

The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM, formerly SCAR) met last week in Providence, Rhode Island. Some of the hot topics included the following:

Information Sharing Among Enterprises

A notable focus at SIIM was the need for enterprises to share information outside their own... Read More »

Strategic Planning for Imaging Centers: Act with Plan in Hand

June 12, 2007 | Legislative Report

Imaging center success hinges on many factors, but without the volume to sustain the operation and power it toward profitability, failure is a given. Breakeven is the bare minimum any business operation must achieve to keep the doors open, yet some radiology groups and entrepreneurs in the imaging center... Read More »

CXOFiles No.2 Joseph J. McDonough Comes Full Circle, Takes Helm at Soteria

June 12, 2007 | CXO Files

Last month, peripatetic CEO Joseph J. McDonough returned to imaging after a 5-year hiatus, this time as CEO of Soteria Imaging Services, Louisville, Ky, with a mandate to grow. His last imaging stint was as CEO of International Radiology Group/American Imaging Management, Dallas, Texas, and since then he... Read More »

Academic Incentive Plan: A Takeaway for Private Practice?

June 12, 2007 | Legislative Report

Does an incentive plan designed for an academic practice have applications in private practice? More specifically, can outpatient-focused radiology practices find something of value in an incentive plan that assigns points to various behaviors in addition to RVUs? An article by Edward Bluth, MD, chairman of radiology at Ochsner... Read More »

Street Scan:  Gores Group Jumps In with HealthSouth Buy

May 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

The Gores Group, LLC, came out of left field to snap up HealthSouth Corporation’s entire portfolio of 54 imaging centers with a $47.5 million offer. A private equity firm with holdings in telecommunications, business services, and manufacturing, Gores’ HealthSouth acquisition represents a new platform for the company, soon to be... Read More »

Radiation Dosage Monitoring in CT

May 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

Was it just a few years ago that potential to reduce exposure was one of the benefits touted for adoption of multi-slice CT?  Then, in 2001, the FDA issued a Public Health Notification to emphasize the importance of keeping radiation doses during CT procedures as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA). ... Read More »

Gadolinium and You: Why Imaging Centers Should Be Concerned

May 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

The connection between gadolinium and the disease known as nephrogenic fibrosis syndrome (NFS) presents an urgent and immediate reason for imaging centers to amend MR policies, procedures, and protocols.

A flurry of advisories from the FDA, the ACR’s Document for Safe MR Practices: 2007, reports in the... Read More »

Dose Awareness Movement Gains Steam

May 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

Efforts to raise awareness of radiation dose in medical imaging saw significant activity on three fronts this past month, suggesting that radiology may be mobilizing to raise awareness of the issue. The National Council on Radiation Protection & Measurements (NCRP) released preliminary results of a new study showing a... Read More »

CXOFiles No.1 Leading Jefferson Radiology: Mark S. Grossman

May 15, 2007 | CXO Files

When Hartford, Connecticut-based Jefferson Radiology came calling roughly a year-and-a-half ago for Mark S. Grossman, he was happily ensconced in a large radiology practice in Cincinnati, Ohio. But the opportunity to serve Connecticut’s largest private radiology practice, founded in 1963, proved irresistible. All of the ingredients for success were... Read More »

Next Up: Rationing Radiology?

May 15, 2007 | The Big Picture

Here we go again! Just when the DRA impact is beginning to be felt as the A/R collections period from Q4 06 morphs into the reality of weaker cash receipts in Q2 07, the American College of Radiology (ACR) Regulatory Update that I attended at the recent Radiology Business Management... Read More »

DRA Survival Strategy: Volume vs Quality and Utilization Management

April 16, 2007 | Legislative Report

I recently attended an outpatient imaging center conference where, not surprisingly, surviving the DRA, dominated the discussion. It also was no surprise that increasing volume was the prevailing recommendation for solving the issue. Economically, it makes sense. When the price goes down, a company must attract more customers and... Read More »

Manage People as Assets, Not Costs

March 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

The best path to profitability in a global economy is not technology but effective management of an organization’s human resources, according to Laurie Bassi and Daniel McMurrer, authors of “Maximizing Your Return on People” in the March issue of the Harvard Business Review. The authors contend that investments... Read More »

Berger Makes His Move

March 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

In an article in the March issue of Imaging Economics, Berger acknowledges that his company RadNet strategically acquired 69 imaging centers six months after the act passed into law—for a grand tally of 129 centers regionally clustered throughout the United States—at a time when most imaging center operators were... Read More »

Building an Emergency Responder Magnet Safety Program, Part II

December 15, 2006 | NONE

Last month we presented a case for proactively training external emergency response personnel in magnet safety, and this month, in Part II, we outline how to develop such an education program for your community. The objectives of your program should be to:

The Case for Emergency Responder Magnet Safety, Part I

November 15, 2006 | NONE

You run a sound MRI operation with employees well trained in magnet safety, but have you ever thought about the scene following a fire alarm being pulled? Imagine several imposing, fully geared firefighters bursting through the door unabated, wielding axes, and completely unaware of the invisible danger generated by... Read More »