Imaging 3.0 in Practice
As medicine progresses through its current paradigm shift and reimbursements contract, radiology as a specialty has been scrutinized as a potential source of wasted healthcare dollars. As a result, radiology has had to reaffirm its role in patient care. The American College of Radiology has recognized not only the need to be defensive players against reimbursement cuts and negative stereotypes, but also to "re-brand" radiology as the friendly, vital consultant who adds true "value." This initiative has been coined 'Imaging 3.0.” In broad strokes, the goal is to shift the radiologist’s "value" from simply # images/time to the many diverse, often unrecognized, roles the radiologist plays in patient care.
While many of us are familiar with the mission of Imaging 3.0, there is little information on what this actually looks like in practice. Radiology Inc., located in Mishawaka, IN, has not only embraced these changes, but has used them to create a model for illustrating the value they add to their clients. This has had many direct benefits, including improved relationships with hospital administrators, new contracts, and even invitations to leadership roles within the organization. Their approach was created by Samir Patel, MD and termed the "Value Management Program." He details their approach in his article published in the JACR, March 2015.
As a brief overview, Patel generated a simple submission form for various categorized tasks which he prescribed a "value-added-unit" (VAU's). These were filed under either Quality, Service, Professional development, or Resource Management. The radiologists in his group submitted "VAU" tasks and the time it took, which were then collated and presented graphically as VAU hours. In just 1 year, this amounted to just shy of 10,000 VAU hours! Once compiled and multiplied by the average hourly cost of their radiologist’s time, they were able to provide an extensive list of value-added services provided by their group and simultaneously demonstrate the theoretical dollars saved (since VAU's are not directly reimbursed).
While the extra steps taken to collect and report this data may be begrudged by some (or many), the benefits of implementing the Value Management Program were swift and well worth the extra effort. Patel's program demonstrates an effective way radiology groups can actively adopt the ACR’s Imaging 3.0 initiative. These measures will help dispel the perception that radiology is merely a commodity. It also provides a practical solution for translating radiologist non-RVU contributions made every day, into the common language of healthcare these days: The Graph.
While many of us are familiar with the mission of Imaging 3.0, there is little information on what this actually looks like in practice. Radiology Inc., located in Mishawaka, IN, has not only embraced these changes, but has used them to create a model for illustrating the value they add to their clients. This has had many direct benefits, including improved relationships with hospital administrators, new contracts, and even invitations to leadership roles within the organization. Their approach was created by Samir Patel, MD and termed the "Value Management Program." He details their approach in his article published in the JACR, March 2015.
As a brief overview, Patel generated a simple submission form for various categorized tasks which he prescribed a "value-added-unit" (VAU's). These were filed under either Quality, Service, Professional development, or Resource Management. The radiologists in his group submitted "VAU" tasks and the time it took, which were then collated and presented graphically as VAU hours. In just 1 year, this amounted to just shy of 10,000 VAU hours! Once compiled and multiplied by the average hourly cost of their radiologist’s time, they were able to provide an extensive list of value-added services provided by their group and simultaneously demonstrate the theoretical dollars saved (since VAU's are not directly reimbursed).
While the extra steps taken to collect and report this data may be begrudged by some (or many), the benefits of implementing the Value Management Program were swift and well worth the extra effort. Patel's program demonstrates an effective way radiology groups can actively adopt the ACR’s Imaging 3.0 initiative. These measures will help dispel the perception that radiology is merely a commodity. It also provides a practical solution for translating radiologist non-RVU contributions made every day, into the common language of healthcare these days: The Graph.
