HOSPITAL AND OFFICE PRACTICES OF RADIOLOGY GROUPS

To obtain information on the characteristics and practices of radiology groups in the United States, the American College of Radiology conducted a group practice survey in 1989; this report presents the main survey findings about the office and hospital practices of such groups. A questionnaire and one follow-up were mailed to all 2,591 radiology groups in the United States. Responses were weighted to reflect all groups. Hospital practices averaged 0.7 diagnostic radiologic procedures (including outpatient procedures) per patient day, with little variation by hospital type. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and angioplasty procedures were concentrated in teaching hospitals, but this was not true of other sophisticated procedures such as computed tomography and nuclear medicine. Offices averaged 15,000 diagnostic examinations annually, with less variation than expected according to group size. In both hospitals and offices, more than 90% of technologists were registered. Outsiders (most often, referring physicians and hospitals) had a financial interest in half of all offices. MR imaging and mammography grew faster than any other examinations, but only 44% of hospital practice sites accepted nonreferred patients for mammography.