In healthcare, as in life, relationships evolve over time. Take, for instance, Atlantic Radiology Associates (ARA) in Savannah, Ga., a 12-radiologist group serving hospitals throughout Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. ARA first started working with vRad, the country’s largest teleradiology provider, back in 2007, with vRad handling preliminary weekend and overnight reads for one of the group’s busiest hospitals.

No world-class radiology residency program ever attained its excellence without securing and sustaining department-wide buy-in on the criticality of teaching the next generation of radiologists. Clinical care and research don’t need to be de-emphasized in any way, but every faculty member in the department must be committed to teaching while sincerely appreciating the value of the residency program in ensuring the present and future health of the profession.

A lot of conversations about value in radiology revolve around patients. How can specialists and their practices keep patients happy? What will make them the most comfortable? These are important things to ask, of course, but a recent article published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology is a reminder that demonstrating value to referring physicians is also absolutely crucial. 

Recently imagingBiz sat down with the two of McKesson’s General Managers to discuss their views on important current imaging issues.

One of the latest offerings in vRad’s service portfolio would make for a good chapter in How to Do More with Less in Radiology, should such a book ever get written. The new program is the teleradiology giant’s Virtual Resident Workflow (VRW), and the title of the chapter on it would be something along the lines of: “While You’re Interpreting, You Could Be Teaching Too.”

If radiology departments want to stay relevant and thrive in the U.S. healthcare industry’s shift from volume-to-value, they need to clearly demonstrate their contribution to the organization’s overall success.

Rare is the radiology practice of any size that has never had to sweat out the absence of one or more radiologists as unread non-emergent studies piled up.

Earlier this month, I interviewed Alexander Norbash, MD, chair and professor of radiology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, about leadership and a variety of other topics. When I asked him if he had any advice for radiologists who may be considering a leadership position in the near future, one of his answers made a significant impression on me.