Whitney Palmer

Analytics Can Save Radiology

Published on the Aug. 21, 2015 DiagnosticImaging.com website

By Whitney L.J. Howell

Editor’s Note: It’s no longer enough for radiologists to be imaging experts. Health care is becoming big business and radiologists need to understand how to navigate the system. Diagnostic Imaging’s Business of Radiology series provides radiologists with the business education they need to succeed.

It’s no secret that radiology is under the gun to validate its contributions to health care and prove its worth and what it brings to patients.

Today’s health care environment – the move toward accountable care organizations (ACOs), the specter of bundled payments, and the paradigm shift to value-based purchasing – has created a need for the field to demonstrate its quality, efficacy, and efficiency. To do that, many radiology practices are turning to analytics as a way to use hard data to show the benefits they offer.

“Analytics in radiology is actually very important. Radiology cuts across a lot of health care lines – patient treatment, diseases, patient care, and diagnoses,” said Jim Hamilton, business manager and administrator for Medical Imaging Physicians in Dayton, Ohio. “The whole concept of analytics in radiology is huge, and the effect on radiology will be huge.”

Within the field, analytics falls into two groups: business intelligence (BI) analytics and clinical analytics. BI focuses on using analytics to improve the day-to-day workflow and business activities while clinical analytics can augment how radiologists and radiology practices serve patients.

Despite recognizing the need for using analytics, actually using the data is still a new concept. And, proper implementation of analytics will require careful planning on the radiology practice’s part, said Keith Chew, senior vice president and managing director of strategic positioning and consulting services with practice management and leadership organization Integrated Medical Partners.

“At this stage, analytics is extremely young for everyone in the industry. I think we’re still working on all of this,” he said. “The big point, though, is that you’re going to get started off and collect information from your system.”

To read the remainder of the story at its original location: http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/practice-management/analytics-can-save-radiology

August 21, 2015 - Posted by wjpalmer | Uncategorized | business intelligence analytics, Canopy Partners, Canopy Partners GRIP, clinical analytics, Jim Hamilton, Keith Chew Integrated Medical Partners, Medical Imaging Physicians, mining radiology data, Paul Nagy MD, Pentaho, radiology analytics, radiology and analytics, using analytics in radiology, Worth Sanders