As in any industry, the end result of imaging is a product, and Tariq Gill, MD, says that honing the quality of this product will be critical to radiology’s future. Gill is a radiologist and quality-assurance officer for Millennium Medical Imaging in Troy, New York. “In radiology, we don’t think of our activity as a product,” he observes. “We lack

What will the radiology group look like in five years, and how can today’s groups position themselves not only to survive, but to thrive? These are the key questions on the imaging industry’s mind as reimbursement rates continue to decline, regulatory changes create enhanced oversight, and the pressure to capture business mounts.

With the definition of meaningful use coming into greater focus, radiologists have seen their initial disappointment at not being invited to the party evolve into the realization that they must demonstrate meaningful use of health IT or risk penalties in 2015.

The revelation that 85% of radiologists are considered nonhospital-based physicians—and are considered, therefore, to be eligible for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funds—has sparked something of a gold-rush mentality in the imaging industry. Medicare-participating radiologists who are not hospital based (providing at least

To hear four radiologists who have immersed themselves in the minutiae of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act describe it, meaningful use—as it relates to radiologists—is an opportunity, a minefield, and a responsibility that could cost more than the $44,000 per radiologist that can be gained by

Since the first of the year, radiologists at Advanced Diagnostic Imaging (ADI), Belleville, Ill, have been using a new outcomes-based quality assurance program from NightHawk Radiology Services, Scottsdale, Ariz. NightHawk developed the program to realign quality assurance with patient care, focusing first on the effect a discrepancy may have on

Medicine in general is evolving toward a patient-centered, outcomes-based model, and radiology should be no exception, according to Timothy Myers, MD, senior vice president and CMO of NightHawk Radiology Services, Scottsdale, Arizona. “We’re looking at things less from the standpoint of the physician and more from the standpoint of the patient, and

Radiologists, like all physicians, have always been concerned about the quality of their work, but in recent years, the specialty’s focus on quality has been renewed. Paul Larson, MD, chair of the Commission on Quality and Safety of the ACR®, says, “Historically, we looked almost exclusively at whether we got the right answers in our reports. What