Lean Targeting Efficiency in Radiology

October 13, 2010 | Feature

Lean services, Six Sigma™, and continuous process improvement: Call them what you will, techniques derived from the now-famous Toyota Production System (TPS) are growing in popularity as a means for health-care providers (and radiology, in particular) to reduce costs and improve efficiency and care—with minimal capital outlay.

How Radiology Volumes Impact Revenue

October 11, 2010 | Quality

Four community hospitals, each located in a non-metropolitan area, sought to improve their radiology service. Each began to see improvements within about six months, and the gains were accomplished, for the most part, without adding new or better modalities.

The explanation, according to Clayton Larsen, senior vice... Read More »

A Hospital C-suite Reality Check

September 15, 2010 | The Big Picture

A few converging issues have recently revealed a fissure in the otherwise strengthening position of hospitals and health systems in the competition for outpatient-imaging supremacy. I have written volumes about the importance of building a two-way, give-and-take model in hospital–radiology group relationships so that both parties can thrive.... Read More »

Physician Employment, the Second Time Around

September 02, 2010 | Strategic Planning

A new round of physician–hospital alignment is underway—this time, with a broader sweep, according to Craig E. Holm, senior vice president, Health Strategies & Solutions, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and D. Louis Glaser, JD, partner, Katten Muchin Rosenman, LLP, Chicago, Illinois. They presented “Employed Physicians: Improving Performance and Avoiding... Read More »

How Hospitals Are Rethinking Imaging

April 29, 2010 | Feature

Diagnostic imaging remains critically important to the bottom lines of individual hospitals and health systems alike, continuing to subsidize many less-profitable and unprofitable service lines while providing predictable growth. A rapidly changing imaging landscape, however, is spurring institutions to alter models for, and methods of, managing their imaging businesses... Read More »

Leading an HCO in an Era of Scarce Resources: Implications for Radiology

April 16, 2010 | Leadership

It’s no surprise that so many provider organizations threw their weight behind the recently passed health-reform bill. In 2009, 72% of hospitals reported increases in uncompensated care.¹ The vast majority also reported decreases in both elective procedures and inpatient admissions, difficulty acquiring capital, and moratoria on capital projects (both... Read More »

Teleradiology Providers Open the Door to Cost Savings

March 16, 2010 | A Better Mousetrap

Community hospitals, like their larger counterparts, continue to encounter financial challenges as they strive to deliver cutting-edge imaging services. For some institutions, engaging a full-service teleradiology provider could result in cost savings.

In a Read More »

Grand Junction: The Role of Radiology in an Integrated Delivery System

October 02, 2009 | Feature

In the June 1, 2009, issue of The New Yorker,¹ surgeon-journalist Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, introduces the world to two US cities that, when contrasted with one another, expose the wide gulf in the cost of US health care delivery and outcomes: McAllen, Texas, and Grand Junction, Colorado. According to 2006... Read More »

The Evolving Radiologist-hospital Relationship

July 26, 2009 | Leadership

It was the contract termination heard ‘round the world when Florida Radiology Associates (FRA) ended its 40-year relationship with Florida Hospital last year. Negotiation of a new contract barely got off the ground before the hospital formed its own in-house radiology group, poaching the majority of FRA&rsquo... Read More »

The Current State of Radiology Administration

July 01, 2009 | Feature

Penny Olivi, MBA, CRA, FAHRA, RT, has more than one finger on the pulse of radiology administration in this economic downturn. In addition to serving as president of the AHRA—The Association of Medical Imaging Management, she manages both the radiology department at the University of Maryland Medical Center,... Read More »

Heroes in Proving the Value of Imaging: G. Scott Gazelle, MD, MPH, PhD

March 15, 2009 | Imaging Futures

Heroes in Proving the Value of Imaging is an occasional series about radiology professionals whose work demonstrates the value of the specialty through research, governmental affairs, humanitarian efforts, and more. In Part 2, ImagingBiz showcases the work of G. Scott Gazelle, MD, MPH, PhD, director of the Institute of Technology... Read More »

FRA and Florida Hospital: A Cautionary Tale Unfolds

December 01, 2008 | Feature

After 40 years, a 47-physician group ceased to exist, a casualty of current medical economics, internal strife,and failed negotiations

The first inkling that the public had that anything was amiss between Florida Hospital and its radiology group occurred in March 2008, when a story appeared in the Orlando... Read More »

Two Hospitals, Two Paths: Case Studies in Hospital Outpatient Imaging

October 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

The outpatient imaging enterprises of Premiere Health Partners, Dayton, Ohio, and Robinson Memorial Hospital, Ravenna, Ohio, could not be more different. The three-hospital health system, for instance, opened 6 imaging centers within nine months and partnered with three radiology practices. The county hospital went solo, with one imaging center and... Read More »

Hospitals Retool for the Outpatient Imaging Market

September 15, 2007 | Legislative Report

After watching outpatient-imaging centers siphon away their often-lucrative outpatient imaging services, hospitals in growing numbers are moving aggressively into surrounding communities to establish outpatient imaging center beachheads. The trend began heating up five years ago, according to Craig Anderson, Sr, founder of Charis Healthcare LLC, Hudson, Ohio, a company... Read More »

Transparent Goals Rational pricing will help hospitals continue to build trust in their communities

August 15, 2007 | Think Tank

The drumbeat for rational hospital pricing is not going away; it’s getting louder.

Witness, for example, the recent study From “Soak the Rich” to “Soak the Poor”: Recent Trends in Hospital Pricing by Gerard Anderson, a health economist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public... Read More »