Subspecialization and Teleradiology: An Uneasy Alliance

November 28, 2011 | Feature

Why would orthopedic surgeons bypass a nearby hospital or imaging center when referring patients? If they happened to be in the Midwest, they might prefer the subspecialized interpretations offered by Linda L. Dew, MD, FRCPC. After more than two decades as a practicing radiologist, Dew has developed expertise in... Read More »

In Search of Shangri-La: Alternative Models of Imaging-service Delivery

November 28, 2011 | Feature

For decades, the radiology practice partnership model has been the dominant form of imaging delivery. Change, however, is afoot. Health-care reform and other factors are driving the development of new imaging-delivery models that merit a close look, if imaging providers are to weather the storm of change that is... Read More »

The Future of the Practice of Radiology

November 28, 2011 | The Bottom Line

I have great optimism for the survival of the practice of radiology. I believe that many groups will thrive, and that there is the opportunity for continued professional satisfaction. For many of us, however, success will need to be redefined.

There are many changes occurring around us.... Read More »

Joint Adventure: A Case Study in Hospital–Practice Integration

July 16, 2011 | Deal Scan

This article is the second in a four-part series on options for hospital–practice integration. To read the first article, click here.

Of one of the largest joint-venture integrations ever completed between a hospital and... Read More »

Managing Expectations

July 04, 2011 | Final Read

Editor Cheryl Proval and I had the privilege of moderating a very interesting and animated session at the recent RBMA meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was a face-to-face panel discussion with the CEOs of each of the five radiology benefit management (RBM) companies. Anticipation built during the conference,... Read More »

It’s All About Scale

November 15, 2010 | The Big Picture

An October 26 commentary in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Big Insurance, Big Medicine” was prescient in its evaluation of the impact on the health-care profession—the business of medicine—of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.... Read More »

Betting Long: Technology Investment Trumps Partners’ Income Boost

October 31, 2010 | Leading by Analytics

Many radiology-practice leaders will, at one juncture or another, pursue business directions intended to increase partners’ incomes. While nothing is inherently wrong with this approach, following an alternate route that involves investing in technology to position the practice for greater income in the future—and leveraging data to justify... Read More »

The Opportunity Knocks Now: Lead or Be Led

October 13, 2010 | The Bottom Line

Over the past decade, economic forces driving health care in the United States have removed many patient-care decisions from the hands of physicians. Fortunately, payment reform might change this. Physicians, including radiologists, have the potential to be rewarded for delivering appropriate, necessary care.

In medical imaging, radiologists... Read More »

Scenario Planning for Health-care Organizations

June 16, 2010 | Imaging Futures

If you’re not scenario planning, you’re not planning. This bold assertion, issued in a recent white paper by GE Healthcare, is the driving philosophy behind the company’s $6 billion Read More »

Strategic Radiology: 15 Practices Align for Strength

April 29, 2010 | Feature

Arl Van Moore Jr, MD, FACR, says, “I’m the 50,000-foot guy.” Van Moore chairs Strategic Radiology, LLC, a consortium of 15 major radiology groups linked to pursue cost savings, better patient care, data mining, and pure old-fashioned clout for radiologists. The trouble is that there are many 50,000-foot visionaries... Read More »

Radiology’s Next Move

March 16, 2010 | The Big Picture

Imagine the situation facing radiology practices and their changing market relationships as multiple, concurrent chess matches. In order to reach a respectable outcome without getting swept away by the convergence of moves coming in rapid succession from prepared opponents, radiologists need to understand that this particular game is strategic,... Read More »

Restructuring: The Way JVs Get Done

February 15, 2010 | Regulatory Report

After Congress passed the DRA, reducing Medicare reimbursements for imaging services, the radiology landscape has never been the same. This is especially true for joint ventures between radiology groups and hospitals to provide outpatient imaging, according to Richard Townley, MBA,  president and CEO of AGI Healthcare Group, a... Read More »

Informatics: Linchpin of Personalized Medicine

January 10, 2010 | Planning Portal

In urging radiologists to adopt a new focus on quality improvement, RSNA outgoing president Gary Becker, MD, outlines the steps necessary to achieve this goal and calls informatics integral to the process. “As we enter the era of personalized medicine and value-based purchasing in medicine, delivery of the highest... Read More »

Evaluating Radiology’s New Revenue Streams

November 19, 2009 | Revenue Track

In January 2008, the ACR® appointed a task force to research and report on the efficacy of the increasing number of value-added services in radiology. Citing a rapidly changing business landscape for radiology services, the blue-ribbon panel was charged with the task of evaluating and providing insights into the value... Read More »

Scanning Imaging’s Deals

November 19, 2009 | The Big Picture

Among the more interesting dramas unfolding in the medical imaging profession these days are the number and variety of transactions that are either in the pipeline, in the process of due diligence, or otherwise in some organization’s strategic plan for 2010. Consolidation is one of the indicators of a... Read More »

Of Competitors and Superheroes

October 14, 2009 | The Big Picture

An eerie presence had descended on Gotham, and ordinary imaging providers in and around New York were worried. Would their most at-risk patients continue to have access to the technology and early diagnoses that could save their lives, or would the pending imaging-reimbursement cuts decimate their practices, severely restricting... Read More »

Strategy Before Structure, Blue Ocean Style

October 02, 2009 | Strategic Planning

Business strategy has been proceeding backward for three decades or more, according to the authors of Blue Ocean Strategy.¹ In the September 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review,² W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne (of INSEAD, a prominent international business school based in France and Singapore) extend... Read More »

Raising the Voices of Radiology

October 02, 2009 | The Bottom Line

Every business has its stressors, and certainly, the past year has been an economic challenge for many different industries. Radiology, however, seems to have endured more than its fair share of obstacles during the recent interesting times in which we live.

Having struggled to adapt to the... Read More »

OIC Deployment: Buy, Build, Sell, or Hold?

July 26, 2009 | Strategic Planning

Tight credit markets may have lengthened timelines, but hospital systems across the United States continue to move aggressively into their communities to fulfill outpatient imaging strategies. The consulting group Sg2 (Chicago, Illinois) predicts 19% growth in outpatient imaging in the 10-year span between 2008 and 2018, representing 90% of total imaging growth over... Read More »

The Digital Dilemma: More than a Can of Paint

June 12, 2009 | Legislative Report

A disturbing trend is clearly visible in the marketplace: too many new imaging facilities are out-of-date by the time they are initially operational. Two key factors can make the best intentions go awry. First, despite the proliferation of PACS, very few health care facility planners have experience with building... Read More »

The Practice CIO: Driving Business Innovation

May 02, 2009 | Feature

CIOs are playing a key role in moving the clinical and business operations of the radiology practice into the 21st century

A funny thing happened on the way to PACS: As large radiology practices adopted the software and technology to create distributed reading solutions for multiple clients,... Read More »

Ten Steps to ARRA

May 02, 2009 | Strategic Planning

Charles Christian, CIO, Good Samaritan Hospital, Vincennes, Ind, identifies the following steps that organizations should take to position themselves to receive their share of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds earmarked for health care IT.

1. Implement an internal team immediately. The team should include administration, either... Read More »

Reinventing the Radiology Practice

March 15, 2009 | RadBrand Builder

Radiology practices must be nimble enough to reinvent themselves if they are to thrive, according to Fred Gaschen, MBA, CHE. Gaschen, executive vice president of Radiological Associates of Sacramento, Calif, presented “Reinventing Your Radiology Practice” on October 24, 2008, at the Economics of Diagnostic Imaging 2008 National Symposium in Arlington, Va. Radiology,... Read More »

Commoditization of Imaging: What Can Radiologists Do Now?

February 15, 2009 | Imaging Futures

As telecommunications technology advances, rocking the age-old paradigm of the radiologist tethered to a lightbox, radiologists have freedom as never before: freedom to read from anywhere, hospital or office; freedom to read from home; freedom to outsource night reading to other providers. Do these freedoms come at a cost?... Read More »

Radiology in an Economic Downturn Strategies for Success

December 01, 2008 | The Bottom Line

In the near term, radiology practices must turn their attention to managing expens­es instead of growth. Physicians in radi­ology who believe that the current eco­nomic downturn will somehow bypass their practices, and who do not gird themselves for the new reality, may be left on the... Read More »