Results of an American College of Radiology-Society of Interventional Radiology Membership Survey on Exclusive Contracts and the Attitudes of Interventional Radiologists.

Purpose: To assess the attitudes of interventional radiologists (IRs) and diagnostic radiologists (DRs) toward exclusive contracts and independently practicing IRs who may request privileges at a hospital where an exclusive contract exists with a different group of radiologists.

Materials And Methods: A total of 22,400 survey instruments were distributed to 4,490 IRs and 17,910 DRs in the United States. Statistical evaluation included multivariate ordinal logistic regression analysis with calculation of the odds ratios and forest plots.

What's in a Name? Report of the ACR Task Force on General Radiology and Multi-Subspecialization.

The ACR Council passed Resolution 47 at its 2020 annual meeting establishing a representative task force (TF) to explore the concept of the "multispecialty radiologist," previously proposed in 2012. The TF held eight virtual meetings over 8 months, considered data from a 2020 ACR Membership Tracking Survey, conducted a review of current literature, and collected anecdotal experience from TF members and ACR leadership. ACR legal counsel and a cross-section of ACR Commissions and Committees also provided input.

Interpretations of Examinations Outside of Radiologists' Fellowship Training: Assessment of Discrepancy Rates Among 5.9 Million Examinations From a National Teleradiology Databank.

In community settings, radiologists commonly function as multispecialty radiologists, interpreting examinations outside of their area of fellowship training. The purpose of this article was to compare discrepancy rates for preliminary interpretations of acute community-setting examinations that are concordant versus discordant with interpreting radiologists' area of fellowship training. This retrospective study used the databank of a U.

Emerging Challenges and Opportunities in the Evolution of Teleradiology.

In recent decades, teleradiology has expanded considerably, and many radiology practices now engage in intraorganizational or extraorganizational teleradiology. In this era of patient primacy, optimizing patient care and care delivery is paramount. This article provides an update on recent changes, current challenges, and future opportunities centered around the ability of teleradiology to improve temporal and geographic imaging access.

The Current State of Teleradiology Across the United States: A National Survey of Radiologists' Habits, Attitudes, and Perceptions on Teleradiology Practice.

Purpose: To explore the current state of teleradiology practice, defined as the interpretation of imaging examinations at a different facility from where the examination was performed.

Methods: A national survey addressing radiologists' habits, attitudes, and perceptions regarding teleradiology was distributed by e-mail to a random sample of ACR members in early 2019.

Results: Among 731 of 936 respondents who indicated a non-teleradiologist primary work setting, 85.

Emergency Radiology: Current Challenges and Preparing for Continued Growth.

The escalation of imaging volumes in the emergency department and intensifying demands for rapid radiology results have increased the demand for emergency radiology. The provision of emergency radiology is essential for nearly all radiology practices, from the smallest to the largest. As our radiology specialty responds to the challenge posed by the triple threat of providing 24-7 coverage, high imaging volumes, and rapid turnaround time, various questions regarding emergency radiology have emerged, including its definition and scope, unique operational demands, quality and safety concerns, impact on physician well-being, and future directions.

Unifying the Silos of Subspecialized Radiology: The Essential Role of the General Radiologist.

As radiology becomes increasingly subspecialized, conversations focus on whether the general radiologist is trending toward extinction. Current data indicate that the vast majority of graduating radiology residents now seek fellowship training. Practicing entirely within the narrow confines of one's fellowship subspecialty area, however, is uncommon, with recent data indicating that more than half of all radiologists spend the majority of their work effort as generalists.

RADPEER peer review: relevance, use, concerns, challenges, and direction forward.

RADPEER is a product developed by the ACR that aims to assist radiologists with quality assessment and improvement through peer review. The program opened in 2002, was initially offered to physician groups in 2003, developed an electronic version in 2005 (eRADPEER), revised the scoring system in 2009, and first surveyed the RADPEER membership in 2010. In 2012, a survey was sent to 16,000 ACR member radiologists, both users and nonusers of RADPEER, with the goal of understanding how to make RADPEER more relevant to its members.

Getting the most out of RADPEER™.

RADPEER™ is a quality assessment and improvement product developed and marketed by the ACR. Although the program has been available since 2002 and the scoring system was revised in 2009, the ACR allows considerable flexibility in its implementation. Although that flexibility supports the local needs of radiology groups using the program, it also may lead to suboptimal implementation of the program and may limit the usefulness of the data obtained.

Strategies for managing imaging utilization.

Imaging represents a substantial and growing portion of the costs of American health care. When performed correctly and for the right reasons, medical imaging facilitates quality medical care that brings value to both patients and payers. When used incorrectly because of inappropriate economic incentives, unnecessary patient demands, or provider concerns for medical-legal risk, imaging costs can increase without increasing diagnostic yields.

RADPEER scoring white paper.

The ACR's RADPEER program began in 2002; the electronic version, e-RADPEER, was offered in 2005. To date, more than 10,000 radiologists and more than 800 groups are participating in the program. Since the inception of RADPEER, there have been continuing discussions regarding a number of issues, including the scoring system, the subspecialty-specific subcategorization of data collected for each imaging modality, and the validation of interfacility scoring consistency.