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Demonstrating IR Value

By Elise Grant posted 01-05-2017 02:16 PM

  
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By Charles E. Ray Jr., MD, PhD, FSIR, president of the Society of Interventional Radiology, and William T. Thorwarth, Jr., MD, FACR, chief executive officer of the American College of Radiology

With a few notable exceptions, the current interventional radiology model in many health care systems is to employ a few IRs to do specific procedures on a case-by-case basis. Many IRs want to expand on that model to see in-house clinical IR practices offer robust service lines in health systems nationwide. 

However, many local IRs may not have the tools or resources to start conversations with health system decision makers to get such practices off the ground. The ACR and SIR have joined forces to overcome this challenge.

The groups have created a toolkit of downloadable resources, available here and on the ACR website, that local IRs can customize and use to educate hospital executives and radiology group officers on the benefits of starting an in-house clinical IR practice.

Interventional radiology has a significant story to tell. And health care payment and delivery changes under MACRA may be a powerful wind at our back.

We strongly urge interventional radiologists and radiology business managers to use these new resources to begin conversations with local health executives about starting an in-house IR function. 

You can find more resources to support your practice on the new sirweb.org Practice Resources Center, but in the meantime, we would like to know: 

  • Are you (or your group) considering approaching your hospital administrators about starting an in-house clinical IR practice?
  • Are you aware of other resources that the ACR-SIR should add to the IR Toolkit?
  • Have you already started an in-house IR practice at your local hospital or health system? What tips do you have for other IRs considering this step?

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below (login required).

A version of this post first appeared on the American College of Radiology's Voice of Radiology blog.

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