Without technology, there would be no way to image a patient. But without the eyes of a radiologist, there would be no radiology—period.

In its continuing effort to build a strong business based on a medical practice model, Nighthawk Radiology Services recently added two new members to its medical executive team (MET). Samir Shah, M.D., is a board-certified diagnostic radiologist and fellowship-trained interventional radiologist. Lawrence Bub, M.D., is a board-certified radiologist with a certificate of added qualification in neuroradiology. 

Each member of the now six-radiologist MET has a specific, assigned role, such as managing Nighthawk’s quality assurance program, developing preliminary and final read protocols, and coordinating continuing education. According to Timothy Myers, M.D., Nighthawk’s chief medical officer, Shah and Bub were added to the MET to meet the medical and business needs of the group. Shah represents the finals team, a growing market segment for Nighthawk dealing with making final reads and diagnosis. Bub represents the specialized radiology segments such as MRI, neuro, and PET.

The MET, which has been in existence for about two years, according to Myers, allows the company to be more responsive to the market—Shah and Bub are practicing radiologists—giving the business leadership of Nighthawk the benefit of their real-world, medical expertise. And having a medical leadership team has transformed Nighthawk “from a corporate to a medical entity,” said Myers in an interview with Tech Edge. “Our product is really patient-care driven. We are designed to capture an image, get it to a radiologist, who will get it back to a clinician with highly accurate results.”

To do this, Nighthawk has built a reputation of working seamlessly with a radiology department or imaging  center. Its radiologists work at a level that is at or above the client organization’s standard of care. Myers says that this is even more crucial in the area of subspecialty radiology, where there is a greater level of “nuance” in working within the various protocols and techniques that have been adopted by those organizations.

Bub will be an active part of helping Nighthawk radiologists fulfill this and for its sales force to accurately and effectively communicate to potential clients. Myers calls this “speaking radiologist” and it’s something that is difficult to do without an established medical leadership group, guiding both the medical side and informing the business one.