- As a macroeconomic phenomenon, commoditization is fairly characteristic of a maturing marketplace—two words that describe radiology in the United States perfectly. As the industry has matured, through increased competition and more deleterious economic pressures, radiology practices have increasingly found themselves competing on price alone, raising the risk that factors

+ Hospital-based Versus Freestanding Outpatient Imaging Services [PDF]

+ Cost Comparison: Hospital-based Versus Freestanding Outpatient Imaging Services [PDF]

+ Radiology-group Financial Performance [PDF]

+ Outpatient Imaging Utilization Trends [PDF]

+ The Radiology Staffing Market, Temporary and Permanent [PDF]

+ 2011’s Top 20 Imaging-center Chains: Second Annual Report

+ Productivity Pressure: IT Unlocks New Radiologist and Referrer Capabilities

+ New Payment Models and the Radiology Practice

+ Value-based Purchasing: From Theory to Practice

+ Quantum Leap: Radiology Groups Consolidate to Grow

+ ITG Market Research: 70% of U.S. Hospital Execs Report Better Than Expected Q4 Performance

+ Press Release: Beaumont, Tex, Market Adds New Locally-Owned Diagnostic Imaging Center

+ Philadelphia Inquirer: Some Local Independent Hospitals are Fighting Consolidation Trend

+ MedPage Today Readers Weigh in on Allegations that Radiology Residents Cheat on Board Exams

+ JACC: Study Finds Many Cardiac Imaging Test Results Not Put to Good Use

Radiology efficiency: The leading edge

Smart Practice Decisions Begin with Data Integration Recording

Developing a Comprehensive IT Strategy for the Practice: Roles, Relationships, Resources

Centralized Imaging and Collaboration in Today’s Decentralized Imaging Business

Extreme RIS: Breaking Down Communication Barriers

Advanced Visualization | Next-generation Architectures

RIS to the Rescue | Strategies for Driving Revenue, Productivity and Profitability

Benchmarking and Reporting for Improved Reimbursement: Business Intelligence Radiology Practices Can Capitalize On Recording

Keep Your Hospital Relationships Healthy: Strategies for Every Practice

Commoditization of Imaging: Fighting the Trend

January 14, 2012 | Imaging Futures

As a macroeconomic phenomenon, commoditization is fairly characteristic of a maturing marketplace—two words that describe radiology in the United States perfectly. As the industry has matured, through increased competition and more deleterious economic pressures, radiology practices have increasingly found themselves competing on price alone, raising the risk that... Read More »

Valuation of Imaging Centers: 2012 Outlook

January 14, 2012 | Deal Scan

If one were to chart trends in physician employment over the past 15 years, the result would closely resemble the recent wild swings seen in the stock market: significant peaks followed abruptly by equally sharp declines, according to Kevin McDonough, CFA, a senior manager for VMG Health (Dallas, Texas).

The Business Case for Patient-centered Care

January 14, 2012 | Revenue Track

As part of a growing trend toward giving increasingly savvy patients greater control over their health care, radiologists are taking a more active role in patient-centered care, tailoring their practices to meet consumer needs. Putting the patient first might seem obvious or intuitive, but the idea has not always... Read More »

Beyond the RIS: Safeguarding Radiology Through Business Intelligence

January 14, 2012 | Quality

Paul Chang, MD, professor and vice chair of radiology informatics and medical director of enterprise imaging for the University of Chicago, believes radiology practices must evolve to survive—and that the path forward is to become more collaborative with clinical partners, survive on fewer reimbursement dollars, improve workflow, and... Read More »

Just Following Orders

January 14, 2012 | The Big Picture

My column last month, on accountable-care organizations (ACOs) and the same-old, same-old business model, generated some interesting responses. One, in particular, got me thinking about the evolution of radiology and where the profession finds itself today, relative to the... Read More »

Developing the Oncology Service Line: What Providers Should Know

December 26, 2011 | NONE

Demand for oncology services is on the rise, and that has hospitals around the country looking at either adding a new or bolstering an existing oncology service line, says Timea Zsiray, oncology marketing manager for GE Healthcare (Waukesha, Wisconsin). “The Journal of Clinical Oncology projected that by 2030 there will... Read More »

ACOs: Help or Headache?

December 26, 2011 | NONE

Opinions about health care reform are plentiful, but Thomas H. Lee, MD, would rather hear solutions. When last year’s Affordable Care Act offered a new model called accountable care organizations (ACOs), Lee assessed the entity’s viability in his role as network president of Partners HealthCare System, based... Read More »

Telehealth to the Rescue: LVHN’s Approach to Extending Care

December 26, 2011 | NONE

At the Health IT Summit of the Institute for Health Technology Transformation, held in August in Seattle, Washington, speakers from health care facilities and professional groups around the country gathered to compare notes on the summit’s theme, “Unleashing the Power of mHealth and Telemedicine.” Among them was Joseph... Read More »

The Radiologist As Ambassador: Integrating On-site and Off-site Reading at Lima Memorial

December 19, 2011 | Quality

When Daniel Schultz, DO, accepted a position with Radisphere (Cleveland, Ohio, and Westport, Connecticut) five years ago, he was particularly excited about the prospect of a combined on-site and off-site radiology practice. “I saw it as a way to practice my specialty, but also to rely on my colleagues... Read More »

Computed Radiography in Haiti: Durability and Sustainability

December 19, 2011 | A Better Mousetrap

In the wake of the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, multiple aid groups rushed to the country to provide housing and medical care for the estimated 1.5 to 1.8 million residents displaced by the natural disaster. One such group was Health4Haiti, which had established a presence in the country several years... Read More »

Open Season: Connecticut Hospital Expands Patient Base

December 19, 2011 | Revenue Track

When referring physicians in Southington, Connecticut, grew weary of sending patients out of town to the nearest open MRI unit, they asked the board of directors at the Bradley Memorial campus of the Hospital of Central Connecticut to recommend a new open MRI system for the hospital’s MRI... Read More »

Radiology Braces for Bigger Patient Base

December 19, 2011 | Legislative Report

Many changes mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) are already underway, but health care still has time for a deep breath before the biggest change of all: In 2014, the insured-patient base is set to explode, driven by limits in payors’ ability to deny coverage, by... Read More »

Cultural Considerations Key to Combining Radiology Organizations

December 19, 2011 | Deal Scan

2011 proved to be another banner year for consolidation in the radiology industry, and with increasing downward pressure on reimbursement, the trend of groups joining together to provide more specialized care (while achieving economies of scale) can be expected to continue. While operational and financial assessments are premerger hallmarks, however,... Read More »

Align or Recycle in Radiology’s New Model?

December 19, 2011 | The Big Picture

In its December 12 article¹ on the future of health care, the Wall Street Journal makes a compelling case that the current and future state of our health-care system will center on alignment of formerly conflicting interests. Giant integrated delivery systems will increasingly include physicians, health systems, and payors... Read More »

The Radiology Staffing Market, Temporary and Permanent

November 28, 2011 | NONE

Introduction: As pressures on reim- bursement and utilization continue to have an impact on the imaging market- place, radiology-staffing data suggest a shift in the availability and use of pro- fessional services over the past decade. This installment of the Imaging Market File tracks current and recent developments in... Read More »

Leadership As Performance Art

November 28, 2011 | Final Read

I am sure that many of you have read the great 2004 book by Fred Lee, If Disney Ran Your Hospital.1 I have often used the material in this definitive treatise on customer service in my strategic-planning retreats, as the ideas and concepts about which Lee writes are timeless and... Read More »

Revenue-cycle Management: Minimizing Denials and Maximizing Collections

November 28, 2011 | Feature

The best way to minimize denials is to prevent them in the first place, by making sure that medical claims meet the requirements for clean claims. A clean claim is defined as a claim that meets the standards required by insurance carriers for payment on first submission.

Inevitable Evolution

November 28, 2011 | NONE

When Barry D. Pressman, MD, FACR, began his radiology career, Nixon was resigning from the White House and neuroradiology was just developing as a specialty. Musculoskeletal radiology largely meant reading bone radiographs. Pressman says, “CT came on the scene in 1972, but we didn’t even know how to spell... Read More »

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 »

Ready, Set—Attest

November 28, 2011 | NONE

When Keith Dreyer, DO, PhD, speaks to an audience of radiologists on meaningful use (something he does quite often, these days), he always asks for a show of hands to determine who is doing what with regard to demonstrating meaningful use of IT. Dreyer, vice chair of radiology computing... Read More »

Radiology and Meaningful Use: Questions Loom As Attestation Begins

November 28, 2011 | Feature

It was the radiology community’s version of the shot heard ‘round the world: in April 2010, the Continuing Extension Act of 2010 revised the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act’s definition of a hospital-based eligible professional to include hospital-based physicians practicing in outpatient settings, thereby... Read More »

The 75 Largest Private Radiology Practices

November 28, 2011 | Feature

Click the image to view The 75 Largest Private Radiology Practices | Click here to download the PDF

Introduction During the break of a radiology-group retreat, a young radiologist was congratulating a radiologist 30 years his senior on his upcoming retirement. The young radiologist... 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 »

Seeking Meaning in Meaningful Use

November 28, 2011 | Priors

The Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs provide for incentive payments to eligible professional who are meaningful users of certified EHR technology—and future downward adjustments for eligible professionals who fail to demonstrate meaningful use. The Medicare version of the program is generally applicable to primary-care... Read More »

Breast Tomosynthesis: How I Read It

November 28, 2011 | Priors

Now that digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) has gained FDA approval, many breast-imaging providers find themselves excited about the new technology, but facing uncertainty about reimbursement, implementation, and interpretation workflow. There remain a number of questions related to the display of (and approach to interpreting) DBT that need to be... Read More »

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