Determinants of radiologists' productivity in private group practices in California

The purpose of this study was to determine factors that would affect radiologists' productivity in private group practices in California.

Individual productivity data were collected for 236 private practice radiologists from 6 private radiology groups in California. The data included information on physician characteristics, facility indicators, and group practice factors that were hypothesized to affect providers' productivity. Statistical tests including chi-square testing and multivariate linear regression were used to analyze the effect of the 3 groupings of factors on the productivity of the radiologists.

With increases in age, the number of years in practice, and the number of years in affiliation with the group practice, productivity seemed to decrease. On the other hand, productivity tended to increase if a radiologist was a shareholder, with an increase in the number of facilities served by the radiologist per day, in the proportion of imaging examinations and interventional procedures conducted, and in the proportion of those examinations stored in picture archiving and communication systems.

To improve radiologists' productivity, group practices must invest in data-reporting infrastructure for tracking productivity, contract with outpatient imaging centers, and review group practice partnership composition and incentive models to ensure higher productivity. Future studies might consider examining the effect of other factors, such as time spent on nonclinical duties and the use of paramedical assistants in the practice.