Don Trexler, CEO of Baton Rouge Radiology Group (BRRG) in Louisiana, wants his practice to be different from a typical imaging group. “We’re a full-service radiology firm,” he says. “The radiology market, in general, is becoming more and more price conscious. To be in a leadership position when it comes to contract negotiations, we have to make it

From May 2007 to January 2008, an Atlanta, Georgia-based radiologist signed and submitted thousands of reports in his name, with one major caveat—he didn’t review a single one. Instead, he delegated the work to his radiology practitioner assistants (RPAs), who interpreted the exams and prepared the reports. In November 2009, the US Department of

With Quality Counts as its theme for 2009, the RSNA’s 95th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, obviously emphasized multiple aspects of quality assurance, control, and improvement. On December 1, several multispeaker sessions had an even stronger focus on the practical steps that radiology providers can (and should) take to

Some proponents of national health care reform expect to pop the champagne corks any day now in celebration of getting a bill through Congress. Meanwhile, some administrators of hospitals and imaging departments expect to pop the lids off aspirin bottles so that they can begin nursing the headaches caused by undertaking the strategic repositioning

At RSNA 2009, analysis of key metrics was emphasized as a means for radiology practices to improve operations, augment quality, and reduce costs. In 2010’s health care environment of ever-declining reimbursement and renewed focus on outcomes, what are the key metrics for practices to use? ImagingBiz.com spoke with Marcia Flaherty, CEO of Riverside

Randal Roat Jana LandrethAs the ranks of the uninsured continue to grow, it is increasingly important for radiology practices to implement strategies for dealing with self-pay patients, according to Randal Roat, CHBME, and Jana Landreth, CPA, MBA, of Medical Management Professionals (MMP), a physician billing and practice-management company based

In a December 2 session at RSNA 2009 in Chicago, Illinois, on using next-generation health care IT to improve radiology, David Avrin, MD, PhD, radiologist at the University of California–San Francisco Medical Center, opened with a comment made to him by one of his hospital administrators: “Images these days are so clear that even I can read them.”

In urging radiologists to adopt a new focus on quality improvement, RSNA outgoing president Gary Becker, MD, outlines the steps necessary to achieve this goal and calls informatics integral to the process. “As we enter the era of personalized medicine and value-based purchasing in medicine, delivery of the highest quality, most efficient care will