The Industrial-strength Imaging Executive
by Curtis Kauffman-Pickelle
Today’s medical-imaging profession is definitely not for the fragile and weak-kneed among our colleagues. It is becoming increasingly clear that navigating the constant changes and challenges that face the practice of radiology today will be the ultimate test of tenacity, perseverance, and creativity. We’re in the playoffs now, and the game is moving to the big-time arena—where the margin for error is nil.
Finger in the Wind
by Cheryl Proval
Physicians are in a real bind as fee-for-service reimbursement falls under attack and alternative payment methods (such as bundling and capitation) gain traction in Washington, DC. As of June 18, Medicare Part B claims were being processed with the 21.3% cut mandated by the sustainable growth rate’s formula, and House Democrats demanded legislation on jobs before they would pass the Senate bill to reverse the cut.
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We provide strategic business and marketing expertise to assist in the growth of your medical imaging enterprise.
Our clients include radiology practices, imaging centers, and hospitals in large and small markets across the country.
Save the Date:
July 20, 2010 11am ESTTopic
Keep Your Hospital Relationships Healthy: Strategies for Every Practice
Presenters:
Randy Roat, CHBME, VP of Radiology, MMP, and George Ehrhardt, CPA, Director, Practice Management, MMP
Medical Management Professionals, Inc.
Topic
RIS to the Rescue | Strategies for Driving Revenue, Productivity and Profitability
Sectra
Topic
Advanced Visualization | Next-generation Architectures
Visage Imaging
From Partner to Employee: The Captive Radiology Practice
The hospital-employed model and the proliferation of corporate teleradiology providers are causing more radiologists to choose employment over partnership.
CEO Roundtable: Practice–Hospital Relations
Independent radiology practices grapple with declining technical fees, commoditization threats, and the hospital interest in captive practices, as practice CEOs face unprecedented challenges
Life After Sutter
When news spread that Sutter Health (Sacramento, California) planned to cut loose its long-time radiology provider in Sacramento in favor of a captive model, some observers wondered how Radiological Associates of Sacramento (RAS), a 76-radiologist practice founded in 1917, would survive.
Tapping the Rural Market: A User’s Guide
The emergence of PACS has given practices a chance to expand their business and boost revenue by tapping the rural hospital market.
The Tortoise and the Stack Burner
You know the tale. In the end, the steady pace of the tortoise won out over the supreme confidence and sheer speed of the hare; the hare simply did not value the focus, commitment, skill set, and tenacity exhibited by the tortoise.
Business 101: Using Basics to Grow Revenue
As imaging centers nationwide look for new revenue streams to compensate for ever-declining reimbursement, the answer might be getting back to basics, according to Greg Thomson and Dan Simile Jr of Medical Management Professionals, Inc (MMP), Atlanta, Georgia.
Relationships Gone Wild
All across the country, we are seeing the dissolution of long-time hospital–practice relationships that are part of the community fabric
Radiology Practices Fight Declining Technical Revenues
Declining technical revenues have become a way of life for imaging practices.
Key Metrics for 2010: A Conversation With Marcia Flaherty, CEO, Riverside Radiology
At RSNA 2009, analysis of key metrics was emphasized as a means for radiology practices to improve operations, augment quality, and reduce costs.
Leveraging RVU Data to Improve Productivity
Friendly competition has developed among the five radiologists of Capital Imaging Associates, Albany, New York, to the benefit of referrers (and, potentially, to patient care).
The ACR and Its Real-world B-school
Radiology is stepping up to the very difficult challenges it faces with the help of an expanding cadre of strong leaders
Productivity Tracking for Radiologists
Because there are not enough radiologists available to meet demand, practices must learn to make the most of radiologists’ available time, according to a paper presented in Chicago at RSNA 2008.
Radiology: Ancillary No More
Radiologists must counteract practice developments that can result in trivializing their specialty’s contributions to medicine
Heroes in Proving the Value of Imaging: Part 1
Heroes in Proving the Value of Imaging is an occasional series about advocates for the profession who are working to enhance radiology through research, governmental affairs, humanitarian efforts, and more. In Part 1, ImagingBiz speaks with academic leader Bruce Hillman, MD.
Patient Surveys Guide Competitive Strategies
Asking customers what they need is one of the best ways of retaining their business, in the experience of Frank J. Lexa, MD, MBA.
Summit Radiology CEO Mark Schaefer: The Role of IT in Building the Practice
The story of Summit Radiology is in some respects archetypal: the story of the modern radiology practice.
Tomorrow’s Successful Imaging Leaders
In despair at the way its programs were organized, the business school at one university recruited as the director of programs a successful businessman.
Physician Productivity Tracking Takes Hold
No matter how common measuring productivity becomes, there is a deficiency behind it: tracking does not always reflect reality and, as a result, can cause diligent workers to appear less productive.
Lynn Elliot: Moving RATC Beyond the Field of Dreams
In 1998, Lynn Elliott, MBA, CPA, accepted a position as CEO of the thriving, hospital-based practice of Radiology Associates of Tarrant County (RATC), Fort Worth, Tex.
Assessing the Cost of Individual Radiologists’ Reporting Habits
Medical billing systems are database files managed using programs that perform accounting functions.
The Third Rail: Measuring and Managing Physician Productivity
Richard Duszak, MD, bears the authority of experience when he cautions those who dare attempt to manage physician productivity.
Negotiating Exclusive Hospital Contracts: Five Critical Issues
Are exclusive hospital contracts negotiable? Of course they are, but when a hospital provides a radiology group with an exclusive contract, the hospital may give the impression that it is a form agreement, ready for signature. What the hospital does not tell you is that these form agreements frequently are heavily negotiated.
Aging Well for Radiologists
Many of the reasons for impaired physician performance (such as physical illness, substance abuse, or psychological difficulties) will not affect all physicians.
Mark Kleinschmidt: Brokering a Shared Vision
When NightHawk Radiology, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, purchased the business infrastructure of St Paul Radiology in the summer of 2007, the entire industry took notice.
Leadership’s Secret Language
Regular readers of this column know that throughout the past year, I have written about various aspects of leadership in an attempt to identify our profession’s next generation of change agents.
Diversified Radiology: Pressing the Hospital Advantage
Diversified Radiology of Colorado, PC, has cast a long shadow in Denver since radiologist Kenneth Allen, MD, founded the practice in 1927.
CXOFiles No.7 Saunders and Mid-South Imaging Bet on Quality
Worth M. Saunders, MHA, has served as chief administrator for the 32-radiologist Mid-South Imaging and Therapeutics, PA, Memphis, Tenn, since 2003.
CXOFiles No.6 Q & A: Scott Arant American Health Imaging: Bulwark of Single-Modality Model
Scott Arant, CEO of American Health Imaging (AHI), a 20-center chain based in Decatur, Ga, started operations in June of 1998 in Decatur, Ga, an eastside suburb of Atlanta, with an open MRI, as did many other entrepreneurs around the nation.
CXOFiles No.4 Joe A. Paul and Paul N. Cote: The Pair Behind Cypress Partners, LLC
The story of the 14-center imaging chain called Cypress Partners, LLC, [link to: ]http://www.cypresspartners.com/index.html] is a tale of two partners who honed their skills as hired guns at corporate entities operating in the diagnostic imaging space before becoming masters of their realm with their own imaging center company.
Carrot Approach to Radiologist Compensation
A creative radiologist compensation plan is critical for improving group and individual performance as well as attracting and retaining talent.
CXOFiles No.2 Joseph J. McDonough Comes Full Circle, Takes Helm at Soteria
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.
Academic Incentive Plan: A Takeaway for Private Practice?
Does an incentive plan designed for an academic practice have applications in private practice?
CXOFiles No.1 Leading Jefferson Radiology: Mark S. Grossman
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.
Building an Emergency Responder Magnet Safety Program, Part II
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:
