Practice says paltry UnitedHealthcare rates making it difficult to recruit radiologists
A Tennessee private radiology practice has abandoned a Jan. 1 ultimatum to leave UnitedHealthcare’s network over an ongoing contract dispute.
Chattanooga-based Tennessee Interventional and Imaging Associates (TIIA) has pushed the country’s largest commercial payer to up its rates to match other larger communities such as Memphis and Nashville. The group had claimed in mid-2025 that UHC has been “unwilling to compromise” in negotiations over pay.
Leaving its network would have impacted about 10,000 individuals on Medicaid and dual-eligible plans administered by UnitedHealthcare. However, TIIA has now decided to remain in-network, the Times Free Press reported Jan. 7.
Practice CEO Stephen Johnson estimated that TIIA radiologists working at Erlanger Health hospitals make about 50% of what their counterparts earn at a sister institution in North Carolina. One reason for the discrepancy is because Tennessee does not have standardized reimbursement rates under its Medicaid program.
TIIA said these lower rates are making it more challenging to recruit radiologists.
"It really leaves us at a distinct disadvantage," Johnson told the newspaper. "If Tennessee had maintained a physician fee schedule, we wouldn't be having this issue, because there would be a baseline for reimbursement."
UHC, meanwhile, said it believes it has reached an “agreement in principle on a new relationship” with TIIA, with the two sides now working to iron out terms.
Read more about the negotiations from the Chattanooga Time Free Press here:
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.