Radiologist seeks to better understand consolidation in the specialty
A radiologist is seeking to better understand consolidation in the specialty and its impact on the imaging workforce.
Benjamin E. Northrup, MD, notes that radiology has “changed dramatically” over the last 20 years, with practices merging, hospital systems growing and practice models evolving to meet economic pressures. While many are talking about these trends anecdotally, he wants more data demonstrating how mergers and acquisitions are changing clinical practice.
Northrup, with the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology in St. Louis, Missouri, recently scored a grant from the Neiman Health Policy Institute to help fuel his curiosity. He and his research team are working to develop a standardized approach to evaluate consolidation in radiology. They’ll do so by using an existing measure, the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, to measure mergers over time.
“Ultimately, our goal is not simply to describe consolidation, but to better understand the drivers and implications of what we observe,” Northrup wrote in a blog post published by the American College of Radiology on Aug. 20. “For example, does increasing health system consolidation lead to subsequent consolidation among radiology groups? Do highly concentrated markets experience different workforce dynamics than less concentrated markets? How might consolidation influence radiologist turnover, subspecialization, or the use of nonphysician practitioners? These are important questions at a time when workforce challenges are top of mind for many radiology practices.”
Northrup said his research team plans to examine geographic clusters of communities and job markets between 2015 and 2025. They’ll seek to evaluate how consolidation has evolved during that period. He hopes this research will serve as a foundation for future work. One goal is to help develop tools allowing radiology leaders to better visualize and understand consolidation trends.
“By creating new ways to measure and track these changes, we hope to generate insights that can inform strategic planning, workforce development and future policy discussions,” Northrup wrote.
The project is fueled by the institute’s Richard Duszak Grant, named after a noted radiologist. His former leadership as the CEO, CMO and director of the Neiman Health Policy Institute IMPACT Center at Emory University, Atlanta, was instrumental to the group’s success. As part of the grant, Northrup noted that he is receiving mentorship from Duszak. He is expected to attend meetings at project milestones, provide guidance on its aims and interpret the results, according to the grant page.
“His contributions to economics and health policy research have helped define how our specialty evaluates value, access, utilization and workforce trends,” Northrup wrote. “His leadership and previous work, as well as the continuing work of the HPI, has had a profound influence on radiology by providing key evidence that directs ACR strategy, enables advocacy wins for the ACR members, and helps leaders across the radiology make sound practice management decisions.”
The writer also noted that applications are open for the next Richard Duszak Grant through Sept. 29. Those interested can learn more about the program 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.