There are several keys to building a profitable radiology practice ranging from hiring the right staff and putting in place a competent revenue team, to monitoring the expenses involved in equipment acquisition and maintenance.
However, as Atlanta-based radiologist Richard Woodcock points out in a recent article in Diagnostic Imaging, attempting to make good, informed decisions on these kinds of issues is next to impossible without good data. As he puts it, a "well-run business is knowledgeable about itself."
Woodcock makes several suggestions about what practices need to do to extract and use data, including:
- When comparing numbers, make year-to-year rather than month-to-month comparisons
- Break down aggregate numbers, so you know where your growth is coming from
- Radiology groups should keep track of their payer mix so that action can be taken if there's a drop in one area
- Break down total exam figures by modality and imaging center
In order to best position themselves competitively, radiology practices need to define the dominant value propositions that support their business models according to Dieter Enzmann, M.D., of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Donald Schorner, M.D., of Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Gilbert, Arizona, in an article published in the March 2013 edition of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
According to Enzmann and Schorner, there are three main value propositions: the low-cost provider, the product leader, and the customer intimacy models.
"Each ... has been a valid market position," Enzmann and Schorner said, "but each demands specific capabilities and trade-offs."
To learn more:
- read the article in Diagnostic Imaging