The FTC recently provided further fuel for industry watchers worried about the impact private equity could have on healthcare. For those who missed it, Welsh Carson has purportedly built a monopoly in anesthesiology and may be trying to do the same in imaging. The NYC PE firm has vehemently denied these claims while emphasizing that its radiology investment has nothing to do with its work in anesthesiology. But the lawsuit provides an interesting additional point of conversation as providers closely watch to see how private equity reshapes the specialty for the long term. Time will tell whether the FTC’s action is a turning point in the industry or just a speed bump in the road. As always, thanks for reading and enjoy the month ahead.
—Marty Stempniak, Editor

Nonphysician practitioners and ED residents also ordered a significantly greater proportion of such exams, experts detailed in JACR. 

Welsh Carson created US Anesthesia Partners to consolidate the market in Texas and then attempted to do the same in imaging and EM, authorities allege. 

More than 1 in 6 graduating U.S. MD students applying for a radiology position did not find such a match in 2023, experts detailed. 

“These requirements add a significant amount of additional time, resource, and administrative costs," the 4 groups said. 

Physicians at Northern Arizona Radiology reportedly had been forced to work long hours to re-read exams looking for missed cancers. 

IR providers pay an average of $877,500 when settling such cases prior to a trial, while average jury awards total more than $2 million. 

The change would require providers to obtain a psychological assessment before performing an interventional procedure used to treat chronic lower back pain.

“After 16 straight years of cuts to radiology this is an unsustainable environment in medicine,” RBMA Executive Director Bob Still wrote to the agency.

“Physicians coming out of training are being recruited like blue chip athletes,” said AMN Healthcare's Leah Grant. 

Experts offered three takeaways from their query of legal claims databases, sharing their findings in Radiology. 

A California federal judge has granted RP's request to compel arbitration in its ongoing dispute with UHC over alleged underpayment.