Clinical analytics for radiology can play a critical strategic role in practice development and growth, but only if the approach to aggregating and sharing analytics is effective, according to Paul Potok, DO, radiologist and board member with Quantum Imaging & Therapeutic Associates, Inc (Lewisberry, Pennsylvania), a 40-radiologist practice. “Many of the metrics we track are the same ones people have been tracking for years, but we do it differently,” Potok says. “Among other things, we make the information instantly accessible to everyone.”

In the last issue of RadAnalytics, I wrote about productivity and efficiency, with an emphasis on keeping an eye to quality. I believe that those group practices that figure out the key to improving individual radiologists’ productivity (as well as overall group productivity) while adhering to patient-centered quality objectives will thrive under the new collaborative reimbursement models that we are seeing in the market.

For at least a dozen years, radiology has played a cat-and-mouse game with the notion of assuming a more active role in determining which patients get imaging. Due to concerns about referring physicians, the mouse, to date, remains elusive. The ascent of value creation in health care, however, has radiology not just thinking about a gatekeeping role, but preparing to assume one.

Radiologist efficiency has increased by leaps and bounds in the digital era, but reimbursement trends have kept steady the pressure to improve productivity further. A handful of emerging tools for the practice potentially could make already-productive physicians even more efficient, according to Bill Pickart, CEO of Integrated Medical Partners (IMP); Pickart says, however, that these tools will represent a cultural shift that will need to be managed skillfully for maximum effectiveness.

Influenced by emerging technology and regulatory changes, the role of the radiology-group CIO has undergone a dramatic shift in recent years: Wayne Davidson, CIO of Quantum Imaging & Therapeutic Associates, Inc (Lewisberry, Pennsylvania), a 40-radiologist practice, says, “In recent years, the focus has really become efficiency because of background factors like declining reimbursement. That drives the business to try to do more with less, and that goal is laid on the shoulders of the IT department.

Quantum Imaging & Therapeutic Associates, Inc, a 40-radiologist practice in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, faced a problem common to radiology groups in the post-DRA era: improving efficiency without decreasing the quality of its interpretations. Elizabeth Bergey, MD, CEO of the group, says, “Radiologist efficiency and efficacy are based, somewhat, on internal factors. Everybody has his or her own personal work ethic, and in any population, there will be some variation.

The topic of efficiency in radiology is both politically and emotionally charged. Improvements in radiologists’ productivity are increasingly critical to financial viability, but cannot be achieved at the expense of clinical quality, especially at a time when quality will be increasingly closely linked to reimbursement. Further, any radiology group that begins tracking (or even providing incentives for) efficiency risks an uphill battle, in terms of changing the culture of its business.

The cardiac-imaging community, indeed any imaging community, should pay close attention to clinical trials. Why? The results of the trial will determine the rationale for imaging. The rationale will determine reimbursement, reimbursement will influence demand, and demand will affect supply. This is the new economics of imaging.