Mercy Health – Cincinnati, part of Ohio’s largest health system, has awarded Columbus Radiology a new contract to provide diagnostic and interventional radiology services. Columbus Radiology has employed many of Mercy Health’s existing radiologists to augment Mercy’s radiology services and maintain medical staff relationships.
“Through this collaborative relationship, Mercy Health will retain its local radiologists while enhancing patient care,” said Columbus Radiology President Frank Castellano, MD. “This contract brings Columbus Radiology’s subspecialty expertise, improved 24/7 access to radiologists and the group’s unique radiology Results Communication to Mercy Health.”
Under the agreement, Columbus Radiology will provide all hospital inpatient, outpatient, and emergency professional radiology services for Mercy Health – Cincinnati. Seventy-nine radiologists now will be available to Mercy Health.
Participating Mercy Health hospitals include Anderson, Clermont, Fairfield, and West Hospitals, as well as hospital-based, off-campus imaging facilities for those hospitals. Michael Levey, MD, a radiologist at Columbus Radiology, will serve as the medical director of radiology for the region.
To improve the patient experience across the continuum of care, the group is collaborating with hospital administration, existing radiologists, and treating physicians to enhance Mercy Health’s radiology offerings. In addition to increasing system access by providing 24/7 subspecialty interpretations, Columbus Radiology also will work with the Mercy Health hospitals to expand breast health, oncology, and neuroscience services. Columbus Radiology and Mercy Health also intend to implement a comprehensive interventional radiology program.
“We see an opportunity to expand into new markets through collaborative partnerships with local radiology groups who lack the subspecialty radiologists and robust infrastructure to deliver the value required in the new healthcare marketplace. By joining a larger, subspecialized practice with sophisticated infrastructure, progressive health systems and referring physicians experience an improved standard of care. The health system delivers elevated patient care, improves referring physician satisfaction, preserves their medical and hospital staff relationships, and provides coordinated and accessible care,” said Charles McRae, CEO of Columbus Radiology.
Under the new arrangement, Columbus Radiology also will improve communication infrastructure through its Results Communication Call Center, a 24/7/365 clinical call center that referring physicians can use to reach a radiologist for consults. The team is responsible for 200,000 inbound and outbound calls annually. Columbus Radiology also will provide double-blind peer reviews to ensure quality outcomes and will offer radiology ordering guidelines and physician education to ensure medically appropriate utilization of radiology services.
For more information, visit Columbus Radiology.
