The findings shared Monday in Health Affairs add to mounting evidence linking vertical integration to higher spending, a trend that's likely to increase in the coming years.

Northern Radiology Imaging has served New York's Northern Country region for more than 70 years, but will close on March 5. 

IRs are responsible for ongoing patient care including E/M, interventional oncology procedures, and imaging before and afterward, experts detailed. 

The recommendation stems from an analysis of Medicare waste in radiology and other specialties, published in JAMA Network Open. 

Imaging advocates believe that with so much at stake, the task force must take cues from one of the specialties most impacted by its guidance. 

Any physician firm that bills patients directly for their work will have “some level of exposure,” the investor service noted.

One-third of practice leaders said they have been forced to freeze hiring and shed employee numbers among CT staffers to counter decreasing patient visits. 

Case complexity also plummeted in several key categories during the pandemic peak, with implications for future budgeting and resource allocation, experts advised. 

Around since 1975, Progressive Radiology dubs itself as the “leading” provider of outpatient imaging services in Illinois, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. 

That's according to an opinion piece from one resident physician, published in Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology. 

While published stipends in the U.S. start at $49,547, when accounting for cost of living, pay can drop considerably, diving as low as $26,915. 

The specialty has seen a decline in available MIPS metrics in recent years, as the feds have "topped out" those with extremely high national performance, experts said.