Independent imaging groups form national network, deepening doc bench for shared health system client
Two independent imaging groups are forming a national radiology network, deepening the doc bench for a shared health system client in the process.
Lakewood-based Colorado Imaging Associates is teaming with TRA Medical Imaging, Tacoma, Washington, to form Affiliated Radiology, the two announced Tuesday. The new physician-led management services organization will seek to provide member groups with shared picture archiving communication systems, clinical AI infrastructure, and radiologist-read capacity.
Together, the two practices represent nearly 200 radiologists serving clients across the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions. Both are partners with Chicago-headquartered healthcare giant CommonSpirit, which operates approximately 140 hospital locations across 24 states (but is not involved with Affiliated).
Given ongoing radiologist staffing challenges, the two are building a shared physician network to provider cross-reading and greater subspecialty coverage.
“This partnership allows us to combine the strengths of multiple radiology practices with the technology and clinical scale of a much larger organization,” Josh Bryant, MD, president of Colorado Imaging Associates, said in a statement Sept. 8. “We can share infrastructure, expand access to AI, and support one another clinically without sacrificing local ownership or physician leadership.”
Bryant and colleagues said they are looking for other independent imaging groups to join. They’ll seek to provide partner organizations with access to a shared IT infrastructure. Affiliated also aims to band together likeminded groups to aggregate tech investments, purchasing power and clinical scale across multiple organizations. Those involved note that Affiliated Radiology is designed to lower the cost of technology such as AI-supported report-drafting, passing “those benefits directly to partners.”
“Technology is fundamental to how radiology is practiced today,” added Douglas Seiler, MD, president of TRA Medical Imaging. “Affiliated Radiology gives groups the scale to access sophisticated PACS, reporting and AI infrastructure while connecting them to a broader network of radiologist expertise and clinical capacity.”
Affiliated Radiology said it will seek to pursue further opportunities to create greater operational scale through shared services, infrastructure and other administrative functions. Their goal is to help reduce the cost and complexity of these concerns “so partners can remain focused on delivering exceptional care to the communities they serve.”
On its website, Affiliated Radiology notes that modern healthcare systems increasingly require broad subspecialty coverage, rapid turnaround times and consistent clinical quality. Many radiology practices may have exceptional expertise, but limited ability to scale that coverage alone. Their new network seeks to allow affiliated groups to work together to meet these needs. They’ll also seek to collaborate around coordinated scheduling and clinical standards.
Affiliated will support harmonized coverage across key subspecialties including neuro and emergency radiology, and musculoskeletal, body, breast, pediatric and cardiothoracic imaging.
“Coverage may be provided locally, regionally, or through secure teleradiology infrastructure depending on the needs of the hospital or imaging center,” its website notes.
Founded over 50 years ago, Colorado Imaging Associates employs approximately 50 radiologists and seven physician assistants, handling about 600,000 studies annually. It covers all CommonSpirit locations in Denver and west Kansas, along with other hospitals and imaging sites across the Front Range and Rocky Mountains regions. TRA Medical Imaging, meanwhile, employs around 135 radiologists, serving the Puget Sound area for over 100 years. Centered in Tacoma, Washington, it has geographic presence extending from Seattle to Olympia, handling about 1.7 million studies each year.
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.