Many know Sol Radiology as the Southern California-based practice that, in this decade, grew from three radiologists to 45 in only three years. But other key indicators of Sol’s development might be the pieces from which presently small practices stand to learn the most.
When soaring imaging volumes began to exacerbate workload inequity and drive physician burnout, the leadership team at one prominent radiology practice found the root cause easy to isolate: operational fragmentation.
Radiology is rethinking reporting. Legacy systems are being swapped out in favor of intuitive, standardized, AI-powered tools. Greater automation is driving quantifiable improvements into both clinical outcomes and business metrics. Stated another way, radiology reporting is having a moment.
A referring physician orders an MRI of the lumbar spine and hits send. That order lands at three, sometimes four, outpatient imaging centers simultaneously. The center that contacts the patient first books the appointment. The rest miss out on the revenue.
3D surface modeling and virtual surgical planning are expanding radiology’s contribution to multidisciplinary teams. Together, AI-driven interpretation and 3D-enabled clinical collaboration represent two distinct, complementary forces shaping the next decade of radiology.
Among the many requirements a hospital must meet to achieve and maintain the designation of Critical Access Hospital (CAH), the hospital must be fairly remote and furnish 24-hour emergency care services seven days a week, using either on-site or on-call staff.
Nationwide, imaging operators are beginning to feel the impact of reimbursement cuts from the 2014 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (“MPFS”) primarily associated with Computed Tomography (“CT”) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (“MRI”) modalities.
As the federal meaningful use incentive program has progressed, its direct impact on the practice of radiology has intensified through the addition of provisions specific to the utilization and sharing of medical images.
It’s a question often posed by thought-leaders and end-users in the imaging community: What prevents health IT from working as seamlessly, and with as much interoperability, as the technology that drives banking, travel or e-commerce?
The most common approach to succession planning among radiology practices is no approach at all, according to David Myrice, CPA, MBA, director of practice management for Zotec Partners.
Consolidation in the imaging world is often viewed as problematic—but shifting market forces can create opportunities to improve patients’ access to care, points out Kevin Collins, vice president of product management with Sectra.
The ever changing landscape of outpatient diagnostic imaging is compelling operators to have a keen understanding of market conditions in order to appropriately assess the potential return on investment on capital investments to upgrade or replace major imaging equipment.
