It seems clear that the number of US imaging centers has stopped expanding, and that imaging-center chains are no longer as eager to snap up as many centers as possible. This is not bad news, however. Procedural volumes per imaging center are growing—so the combination of greater demand for imaging and fewer centers competing for those referrals means that even lower reimbursement will be easier for today’s busier imaging centers to withstand.

Radiology Business Journal and SDI, Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, are cosponsors of this look at imaging-center chains and the larger environment in which they (and their independent competitors) operate. SDI provided the data on which this report is based, as well as comparison information1 that the company had collected and analyzed in earlier years.

Continued on Imagingbiz