Thirteen large radiology groups — encompassing more than 750 radiologists — on Wednesday announced the formation of a consortium called Strategic Radiology.

According to the Strategic Radiology Web site, the practices included in the clinical and non-clinical collaboration performed 11.6 million exams and procedures and served 124 hospitals.

“Our vision is for Strategic Radiology to deliver efficient world-class patient care through clinical and non-clinical collaboration,” Strategic Radiology’s chairman Arl Van Moore, MD, said via the organization’s Web site. Moore is the immediate past president of the ACR and chair of Charlotte Radiology in North Carolina.

Exactly how the groups will work together clinically and economically remains to be seen, but the idea of a physician-owned, privately held so-called super group is one way to compete in the evolving world of radiology services. Will the cooperation include shared overnight and specialty reads? How about collaboration for pursuing contracts? Cooperative purchasing? Shared IT support in some capacity? There good questions about how this will evolve—and how it fits into the future of delivering radiology care.

Strategic Radiology’s press release touts its intention to remain both privately held and physician owned. Such an organization has the potential to put physician-owned entities on more competitive economic footing with public telerad groups and corporate imaging entities. As groups increase in size and smaller practices feel the pressure to grow or be pushed out of the way, this could prove a viable strategy. But small groups banding together might not be an appropriate analogy. The mean size of each group involved in Strategic radiology is 59 radiologists.

It’s too early to tell what this consortium will bring, but it’s worth paying attention to new models of radiology practice.

Strategic Radiology Member Groups
Advanced Diagnostic Imaging—Nashville, Tenn.
Advanced Radiology Services—Grand Rapids, Mich.
Austin Radiological Association—Austin, Texas
Charlotte Radiology—Charlotte, N.C.
Diversified Radiology—Denver, Col.
Inland Imaging—Spokane, Wash.
Jefferson Radiology—Hartford, Conn.
Mountain Medical Physician Specialists—Salt Lake City, Utah
Northwest Radiology—Indianapolis, Ind.
Radiology Ltd.—Tuscon, Ariz.