Radiology practices all across the country are facing similar and very significant issues. That’s because the rate of diseases and treatments that require imaging is at an all-time high. Even though this means more claims and more revenue, there are certain issues that stop your practice from reaching its goals.
Most of these hurdles stem from simple administrative tasks that can be resolved with ease. We have created this guide to help you with just that. In this detailed blog, we will discuss the top administrative issues that dampen your revenue and how you can solve them.
So, let’s start.
Prior authorization has become one of the most frustrating aspects of radiology practice management. According to the 2024 American Medical Association (AMA) survey, physicians complete an average of 39 prior authorization requests per week, consuming approximately 13 hours of valuable time that could be spent on patient care.
For radiologists and radiology practices, this situation is worse. Why? Well, because beginning in 2025, more complex imaging services—including MRI and CT scans—require pre-approval before rendering services.
Time is just one aspect of the loss. The real problem is that getting prior approval delays patient care and is also a major cause of claim denials. So, what can you do about it?
As a start, implement electronic prior authorization systems that integrate with your existing workflow. Or the easier way to deal with pre-authorization issues is to get outsourced medical credentialing services.
Billing errors and insurance claim denials are among the top reasons radiology practices lose money. Medical billing is hard, but radiology billing is even harder. That’s because radiology is required in all medical specialties. This means that your in-house biller or billing team must be experts in billing and coding of all medical specialties, like cardiology, neurology, orthopedics, and others.
This is not possible to manage with in-house teams. Even if you manage to get highly specialized billers for your team, they will be too expensive.
With constantly evolving CPT codes, modifier requirements, and payer-specific guidelines, even experienced billing staff can struggle to keep claims clean and compliant. What’s the consequence of this? Well, according to the data, 20% of all the claims are denied.
Similar to solving the credentialing problem, we advise you to get help from expert billing vendors and employ specialized radiology billing services.
Another big reason for revenue loss is appointment cancellations, and when patients don’t show up even after having an appointment. According to a survey by TheIntake, practices lose $7,500 annually because of missed appointments. Long wait times, poor communication, and inflexible scheduling exacerbate the problem, draining revenue and straining staff.
HR systems were supposed to streamline healthcare delivery, but many radiology practices find themselves struggling with platforms that weren't designed with radiology workflows in mind. Critical patient information often remains fragmented within EHRs, requiring radiologists to spend significant time reconstructing a patient's full clinical picture.
The problem extends to documentation requirements. While CMS simplified evaluation and management documentation in 2021 to reduce burden, adoption has been slow. Many practices continue using lengthy, templated notes that obscure relevant clinical information rather than highlighting it.
Conduct a thorough usability audit of your current EHR configuration. Remove unnecessary templates that promote copy-paste habits. Train your team on the 2021 E&M documentation changes that allow for more concise, meaningful notes.
Consider EHR customization services that can optimize your system for radiology-specific workflows, including better integration with PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) and RIS (Radiology Information System).
Healthcare regulations continue to multiply, and radiology practices must maintain compliance with an expanding list of requirements, including HIPAA, state privacy laws, Medicare billing rules, and radiation safety standards.
HIPAA compliance alone requires significant investment. The typical cost of HIPAA compliance ranges from $25,000 to $100,000 or more annually, depending on practice size and complexity.
If financial practices want to survive in the face of increasing competition and inflation, they must adapt. The best solution is to outsource your billing, coding, and revenue cycle management operations to specialized third-party billing companies. This will save a lot of time from your physician’s schedule, reduce overhead costs and employee salaries, and eliminate a lot of administrative burden.
Remember: every hour your radiologists spend on administrative tasks is an hour not spent interpreting images and serving patients. So, make the wise decision and find a billing partner for your practice.
