Management

This page includes content on healthcare management, including health system, hospital, department and clinic business management and administration. Areas of focus are on cardiology and radiology department business administration. Subcategories covered in this section include healthcare economics, reimbursement, leadership, mergers and acquisitions, policy and regulations, practice management, quality, staffing, and supply chain.

NLST Trial Halted; Low-dose CT Scans Reduce Lung Cancer Deaths

Former and heavy smokers screened for lung cancer with low-dose helical CT are less likely to die of lung cancer than those screened with standard chest X-rays, according to initial results of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) released yesterday. Sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the largest randomized study of lung cancer

Betting Long: Technology Investment Trumps Partners’ Income Boost

Many radiology-practice leaders will, at one juncture or another, pursue business directions intended to increase partners’ incomes. While nothing is inherently wrong with this approach, following an alternate route that involves investing in technology to position the practice for greater income in the future—and leveraging data to justify and

A Conversation With Douglas G. Smith: The Business-intelligence Imperative

Today, more than ever, imaging providers must harness the power of actionable business intelligence in all aspects of their operations, including the communication of quantifiable outcomes to payors, client hospitals, referrers, and patients. Such is the strategy to be explored in each issue of RadAnalytics, under the MedAnalytix.com umbrella.

Driven by Data: Instinct Takes a Back Seat to Metrics

In early 2009, physician and business leaders of Advanced Medical Imaging Consultants, PC, Fort Collins, Colorado, found themselves wrestling with the decision of whether to add a new site of service at a rural hospital. Instinct told them that the practice was up for the challenge: With 27 radiologists and 17 staff members (including full-time

Health Care M&A Activity Spikes in Q3

Health care mergers and acquisition activity spiked to $66.5 billion in the third quarter of 2010, up 44% from the $45.1 billion spent in the previous quarter, reveals a new report from research firm Irving Levin Associates, Norwalk, Ct. Third-quarter activity also rose 74% from the $38.2 billion spent during the same three months of last year, the

Demand for Radiation Therapy to Outpace Supply in Next Decade

Demand for radiation therapy will exceed the number of radiation oncologists practicing in the U.S. by ten-fold between 2010 and 2020, according to research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Care Center.

California Radiation Protection Bill Signed into Law

Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger of California has signed into law a medical radiation protection bill aimed at protecting patients from excessive radiation exposure received during CT scans and radiation therapy procedures. Greasing the wheels for the first state law of its kind in the U.S., SB 1237, as the bill is known, mandates strict new procedures

How Radiology Volumes Impact Revenue

Radisphere

Four community hospitals, each located in a non-metropolitan area, sought to improve their radiology service. Each began to see improvements within about six months, and the gains were accomplished, for the most part, without adding new or better modalities.