Feature
Practice planning
Considerations for setting up a new IR practice By Neal Khurana, MD
A
ny interventional radiologist knows our field’s immense value to patients, other physicians
and the healthcare system. It is an unfortunate truth that most patients, non-IR physicians and administrators are unaware of the breadth of our clinical and procedural expertise. This is especially true in smaller and rural communities that have not had exposure to modern-day IR. Fortunately, this fact becomes an opportunity for an IR to start a practice.
Given the breadth of diverse practice models available to IRs—from
hospital-employed, private practice, IR within a DR group and outpatient- based labs—there are a few tenets to keep in mind when developing a new practice. Even though each community will have unique politics, referral patterns and prior history with IR, there are several universal principles that, when applied, will result in the high-quality patient care that we are ultimately striving to provide.
Know and educate referring providers The crucial process of learning referral patterns and educating referring providers requires consistent effort. In
my opinion, it takes at least 3 years to mature a new practice. During that time, you will get to know who is familiar with IR and who is not, and who is willing or unwilling to refer to you. Educating other doctors can be met with resistance due to longstanding referral patterns or even met with insult.
For example, an established oncologist may have a surgeon place ports for their patients. If offering your service to place ports is met with resistance, it may not be worth trying to change their mind at first. A better approach would be to find out what is not being done for their patients, e.g., thermal ablation, intra-arterial therapies and palliative procedures. With good patient care and follow-up communication, the rest of your services—like ports—will follow.
Beware of going directly to the patient and behind the provider’s back, as it is a sure way to lose the trust of that colleague. Keep a lookout for new and younger physicians who are more likely aware of the benefits of IR and make sure to engage them as they start their
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