Weiss said the move was to improve the quality of care and not a move toward a closed medical staff, which independent physicians saw as a goal. The project involved putting employed hospitalists in charge of admissions and patient care on the units, which independent physicians and their patients opposed as being disruptive to their relationships. He stepped down after extensive pushback from physicians and the community over a pilot project launched last summer on select hospital units. Allen Weiss, the chief executive officer since 2006. NCH has been in a state of flux since the Jan. “They said they are working on a solution.” “I knew there was an issue and thought I could help,” said Mark Kleinschmidt, with the firm Radiology Advisors in St. At least one additional firm stepped forward to offer assistance that was unsolicited.
They seem to be doing everything possible to get it back in shape.”įord confirmed NCH has retained a recruitment firm. “I have a congenial request to work there. He declined to be specific about a backlog of scans yet acknowledged a shortage of radiologists. Idstrom said he began helping a year ago. Mark Idstrom, has been helping NCH part-time, Ford said. It’s a very sticky, prickly situation.”Ī radiologist from out of town, Dr. “Typically things never go for 24 hours,” he said. “It’s just a revolving door over there,” Ford said, adding that imaging scans need to be evaluated on a timely manner with many being urgent. William Ford, a radiologist who resigned last year from NCH, said the department has been troubled for a long time and purchased used equipment that often went out of service. NCH said the goal with recruitment is to achieve gold star certification, the highest designation, from the American College of Radiology. “There are certainly days when there are studies in the queue to be read as the volume of radiology studies fluctuates depending on the day of the week and as patient volumes in both hospitals and outpatient facilities change,” the statement said. NCH acknowledged there have been delays in imaging reports getting sent to physicians who order them. In addition, we continue to have a contract with a third party teleradiology company.” “NCH’s staffing of on-site radiologists exceeds that of last year with the addition of three radiologists. “We’ve been working with a recruitment agency to help us meet this objective,” the statement said.
The hospital system said in a statement Friday that it made a decision last October to hire full-time radiologists and is focused on attracting the most qualified professionals to meet the needs of its patients. Last fall, several radiologists with Radisphere and independent interventional radiologists who specialize in minimally invasive procedures gave their 90-day notices to NCH. The hospital system’s radiology department has experienced turnover since contracting in 2011 with Ohio-based Radisphere, a national radiology group for remote interpretations of scans while maintaining some in-house radiologists. “I can tell you (NCH) is reporting it has improved.”ĭespite the complaints, a high-profile neuro-interventional radiologist who performs life-saving procedures for stroke patients is returning to NCH in May after giving notice last fall, the hospital said Friday. “I did know there was a significant backlog, particularly on weekends,” said Dr. Other physicians say slow turnaround time for imaging results - such as X-rays and CT scans - was problematic a while ago but appears to be on the mend. Richard Kravis, a concierge physician, adding that he has waited four days for chest X-rays.
“It is not a great confidence builder,” said Dr. Delays getting radiology imaging results from the NCH Healthcare System has prompted some physicians to send patients elsewhere for diagnostic testing.