Data-driven Strategy Delivers Relief From the Pain of Reimbursement Cuts

January 31, 2011 | Leading by Analytics

Reimbursement reductions—most recently, the 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule cuts—have had a significant impact on the radiology arena, with many practices and imaging-center companies taking sizeable hits to their bottom lines or being forced to close their doors. Some entities, however, refuse merely to accept the negative impact... Read More »

Physician-recruiting Strategies for Radiology

November 15, 2010 | Revenue Track

In spite of downturns in volumes and concerns about further reimbursement cuts, radiology physician recruiting remains a seller’s market, at least for the time being. More groups are looking for radiologists than there are qualified candidates, putting pressure on practices to optimize their recruiting techniques. While the recent... Read More »

Dissecting a Mantra: Doing More With Less

July 07, 2010 | Priors

Whenever the economic aspects of business get tough, do more with less is a phrase heard everywhere. Of course, doing more with less just means becoming more productive. There is no scarcity of literature on productivity, and some authors claim to have identified more than 20 definitions for productivity. Economists... Read More »

Business 101: Goal Setting and Strategic Planning

June 16, 2010 | Revenue Track

This article is the second installment in a four-part series on applying basic business concepts to radiology. To read the first installment, click here.

Goal setting and strategic planning are important processes for... Read More »

Radiology Assistants: A User’s Guide

February 15, 2010 | A Better Mousetrap

From May 2007 to January 2008, an Atlanta, Georgia-based radiologist signed and submitted thousands of reports in his name, with one major caveat—he didn’t review a single one. Instead, he delegated the work to his radiology practitioner assistants (RPAs), who interpreted the exams and prepared the reports. In November 2009,... Read More »

Asset Management for Imaging Reduces Waste

December 22, 2009 | A Better Mousetrap

Scarce capital, these days, poses a serious threat to imaging enterprises hoping to see even modest growth. Blame the economy if you will, but there are any number of other contributing factors, including the rapid commoditization of equipment maintenance, punishing tax rates, investment-portfolio losses, and the hold that regulations... Read More »

DR Done the Right Way

September 11, 2009 | Radinformatics

If service, patient safety, and profit weren’t incentives enough, now hospitals and imaging clinics have another inducement to go digital: the Obama administration’s federal health care stimulus plan, which stresses health care IT and electronic medical records.

Steven Mendelsohn, MD, says, “The only choice to... Read More »

Maximizing MRI Throughput With Efficient Scheduling

July 01, 2009 | Strategic Planning

As little as one extra MRI per day can generate more than an additional $200,000 in incremental revenue annually, but most imaging centers use crude scheduling systems that do not accurately present a center’s potential throughput. David A. Dierolf, director of performance improvement, Outpatient Imaging Affiliates (OIA), Nashville, Tennessee,... Read More »

CCTA Staffing and Coverage

March 01, 2009 | NONE

Radiology practices and departments that intend to offer coronary CT angiography (CCTA) need to consider how the additional exam volume and time commitments created by CCTA studies will affect their operations and their staffing models. Will they need to hire additional radiologists, nurses, and/or technologists to manage the... Read More »

The Purchasing Paradox

February 15, 2009 | RadBrand Builder

There is so much breadth and depth to today’s imaging marketplace that many radiology centers find themselves struggling to make sense of it all. As a result, growing numbers of organizations shopping for equipment end up with systems ill-suited to their needs and systems fated to fall short... Read More »

The Excellence Formula

December 01, 2008 | NONE

Radiology group practices can take the following seven steps to transform their practice models into something much closer to the ideal.

First, change before change becomes a necessity. Lawrence R. Muroff, MD, FACR, president and CEO of Imaging Consultants Inc in Tampa, Fla, says, “Strive to anticipate... Read More »

Increasing CT Productivity: Good for Patients, Referring Physicians, and the Bottom Line

September 16, 2008 | Productivity

CT has become indispensable tool for physicians to use in diagnosing and managing a vast array of medical conditions. The use of CT to aid triage of patients in emergency departments is now routine. Most patients with cancer are diagnosed and monitored by CT. Even many benign diseases are... Read More »

What’s the Deal? A Look at Current Recruiting Packages in Radiology

June 15, 2008 | Feature

As most markets are, the job market for physicians is fluid and is subject to shifts that can be either gradual or abrupt. At Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, Irving, Texas, we track these shifts in our annual Review of Physician Recruiting Incentives, which we have been compiling for 15 years.... Read More »

Solved: A Consistent and Simple DR/CR Interface

May 16, 2008 | Destination Digital

Hospitals trying to send both CR and DR images to PACS, especially for the same patient, have encountered multiple problems in the past. CR and DR images acquired for the same diagnostic study, but through differing devices, might have been presented with a different look and feel because of... Read More »

Maximize MR Throughput with Efficient Scheduling

July 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

As little as one extra MRI per day can generate more than an additional $200,000 in incremental revenue annually. But most imaging centers use crude scheduling systems that do not accurately present a center’s potential throughput. David A. Dierolf, director of performance improvement, Outpatient Imaging Affiliates (OIA), Nashville, Tenn,... Read More »

Survival of the Most Efficient

August 15, 2006 | NONE

As demand for imaging continues to grow, so too do the challenges of running an efficient and viable radiology practice. Competition is fierce, utilization scrutiny is intensifying, radiologist shortages continue, turf battles are becoming more and more prevalent, and reimbursement challenges loom darker and darker. How will radiology practices... Read More »