Radiology-centric medicine and the need for practice transformation.

摘要

The situation of radiology in the early 21st century parallels the classic tale of the lost car keys. How many of us have searched high and low for our car keys, frantic to meet a deadline, only to discover they have been right in front of us all the time? As Americans seek solutions to the provision of high-quality, cost-effective health care with proven beneficial outcomes, the discussion of how to achieve these goals has covered a wide range of opinions. Over the past 20 years, proffered solutions have included capitation, managed care, horizontally and vertically integrated physician and hospital organizations and networks, outsourcing, telemedicine, shared-risk contracts, reduced fee-for-service payments, the development of quality metrics, outcomes research, financial incentives, and payments related to quality, to name a few. The problems we still face can be traced to the lack of coordination and central focus in development of systems options.