Addressing the shortage of radiologists

In a survey of 254 hospital radiology departments conducted last year, Dallas-based U.S. Radiology Partners (USRP), a radiology management firm, found that 45 percent of hospitals are understaffed in radiology. Fifty-six percent of hospital radiology department heads surveyed by USRP indicated that staffing shortages were diminishing the quality of care their departments are able to provide. Moreover, staffing shortages are occurring at a time when radiology volume generally is increasing. There are various underlying reasons why the supply of radiologists and other physicians is insufficient to meet demand in many areas, including institutional misdiagnosis, graduate medical education, patient preferences, the economy, restrictions on international medical graduates, practice patterns, patient and physician demographics and new technology. Given current physician supply and demand trends, a strategic radiology staffing plan is needed. Such a plan would include the following elements: retention, candidate parameters, contracts and incentives, sourcing, screening, interviewing, responsiveness and decisiveness.