from the most recent issue of Radiology Business Journal
Posted: April 29, 2010
You know the tale. In the end, the steady pace of the tortoise won out over the supreme confidence and sheer speed of the hare; the hare simply did not value the focus, commitment, skill set, and tenacity exhibited by the tortoise. There are lots of lessons to be learned from this story, and over the years, most of us have learned how to apply at least some of them in our careers.
In radiology practices around the country, however, there is one lesson that still seems elusive. Among the many questions that I am asked about productivity and stack time is the consistent dilemma of how to value off-stack time. In other words, when partners in the group step up and perform functions other than meeting the required daily RVU count, how are these functions—this time away from the so-called real work—valued...continue reading at imagingBiz.com
Arl Van Moore Jr, MD, FACR, says, “I’m the 50,000-foot guy.” Van Moore chairs Strategic Radiology, LLC, a consortium of 15 major radiology groups linked to pursue cost savings, better patient care, data mining, and pure old-fashioned clout for radiologists. The trouble is that there are many 50,000-foot visionaries at Strategic Radiology.
Incorporated in Delaware, Strategic Radiology has no headquarters and has only a single employee, paid as a consultant. It currently is seeking a nonphysician administrator. The bulk of the work at Strategic Radiology is shouldered by the member physicians and administrators as volunteers...continue reading at imagingBiz.com
In a coincidence worth noting, Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations was published in 1776, the year that our nation-to-be declared its independence from what was then the Kingdom of Great Britain. In that work, Smith argued that the colonies were not worth the cost of keeping them. Nonetheless, Smith’s ideas and US commerce, including the health-care marketplace, continue to travel in parallel universes.
We got health-care reform, but we still have the same quasi–free-market system we had when we entered the fray, albeit with 31 million potential new customers. That makes us one of the only developed Western nations that can make that free-market claim. It is true that Medicare was on a collision course with fiscal disaster prior to reform, and apart from some vague hopes about the ability of accountable-care organizations (ACOs) to moderate costs, the reform bill did not address this cost conundrum. The free market has prevailed, though, and the free market continues to have the opportunity to find a solution....continue reading at imagingBiz.com
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from the most recent Imagingbiz
Posted: April 12, 2010
After unprecedented growth over the past two decades, freestanding imaging providers have found the past few years challenging. Increased regulatory oversight, negative reimbursement changes, tighter access to financing, and general business uncertainty have all taken their toll, and pessimism within the industry runs rampant. In response, some freestanding imaging providers have consolidated, downsized, restructured, or closed—trends that have undoubtedly altered the competitive landscape in many saturated markets.
Most imaging-center transactions must have the support of an independent opinion of fair market value. Understandably, many business-valuation experts who perform imaging-center valuations fail to consider the freestanding imaging industry’s many positive dynamics adequately, and they therefore undervalue the business. With the negative headlines and heightened uncertainty, it is too easy to focus on these concerns at the expense of the more complex (and less obvious) factors that the analysis should also consider. ...continue reading at imagingBiz.com
As the potential role of informatics in transforming health care gains national attention, how are IT tools for imaging and image management evolving to improve clinical efficiency and bolster quality of care? ImagingBiz spoke with Aaron Waitz, vice president of product development for FUJIFILM Medical Systems USA, Stamford, Connecticut, on the future of imaging informatics and the Fujifilm Synapse® product line.
ImagingBiz: As the newly appointed VP of product development, what would you say is your driving goal/vision for Fujifilm product development?...continue reading at imagingBiz.com
ThedaCare is Northeastern Wisconsin’s largest community-owned health system; its numerous radiology units strive to provide the highest-quality imaging to attract new referrals while simultaneously retaining hard-won existing business. Until relatively recently, however, performing MRI exams for patients weighing more than 300 pounds was a problem.
Larger patients were often too big to fit into the bore of the organization’s conventional high-field MRI scanners, and when they did fit, the cramped confines could trigger bouts of claustrophobia. Depending on the intensity of anxiety at feeling entombed, these patients would squirm or try to get out of the scanner. ....continue reading at imagingBiz.com
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