Health system pauses outpatient imaging amid ongoing delays
A health system under fire for delayed radiology interpretations is temporarily halting its outpatient imaging services while leaders work to find a resolution.
CommonSpirit Health, which operates hospitals and clinics in parts of Tennessee and north Georgia, announced Monday its outpatient imaging services are being placed on hold. The announcement comes after dozens of patients and providers voiced concern about weekslong delays in receiving radiology reports.
On July 3, CommonSpirit posted an update to Facebook regarding the delays, claiming it was doing everything possible to resolve the issue. At that time, leaders did not disclose a reason for the delays. Monday, however, CommonSpirit cited “software issues” as the culprit.
“We continue to navigate delays in some radiology services across our facilities,” a Facebook post reads. “This is due to software issues following the integration of a new radiology services provider.”
The integration in question has been criticized by providers who work for one of the organization’s Chattanooga, Tennessee-based medical centers, which was formerly named CHI Memorial Hospital prior to a merger with CommonSpirit. In June, CommonSpirit broke ties with Diagnostic Imaging Consultants—a local group that had been serving the system’s radiology needs for decades—and began outsourcing its interpretations to Apollo Radiology, a remote teleradiology company based in India.
“In the days following the June 17, 2026, transition, clinicians report serious radiology delays, technical failures affecting access to imaging, and workflow breakdowns,” CHI Memorial providers wrote in an open letter to patients, which was published in the Chattanoogan newspaper. “Internal communications from administration acknowledge a substantial imaging backlog and have directed staff to prioritize certain patients, divert imaging to outside facilities, and have nonradiologists perform preliminary ‘wet reads.’”
CommonSpirit signaled Monday that the outpatient imaging pause is intended to prioritize patients with the most urgent needs, and that it will be a temporary solution. It reassured patients who are scheduled for cardiac imaging and mammograms that their exams will carry on without delay.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.