Ready for the radiology belt to tighten…again?
That’s exactly what happens every time Medicare cuts reimbursement rates. The proposal for 2021 contains approximately 11% to get cut from Diagnostic Imaging in general.
Let’s step back.
Do you know how I often mention that you should check the radiology news sites to see what’s going on in the radiology world?
Moreover, Sites like AuntMinnie and Radiology Today are great insights into what is happening in our field.
This post is coming partially from the Aunt Minnie article titled “Medicare proposes major cut to radiology for 2021.” (AuntMinnie Link)
So, Here’s the data:
Overall, Diagnostic Radiology departments could see up to an 11% decrease in reimbursement rates.
My point in all this is to help you look at things through the eyes of an administrator.
The Director or Manager over your radiology department is going to be called into a meeting with the Big Boss.
Here’s how it is going to play out:
Big Boss: I’m assuming you’ve seen the cuts proposed to Medicare for 2021. How do you intend to reduce your expenses to counterbalance the reduction in revenues?
Moreover, Here are the common ways to reduce expenses:
- limit cross training of staff (it costs money to train and backfill the trainee)
- remove luxury items (commercial water services, flatware and coffee in the breakroom, scrubs provided by the hospital, etc.)
- reduce annual raises (merit, cost of living, or any other IF you get any at all)
- reduce staffing (less techs at night, less on the weekends, etc.)
These are the basic hospital saving techniques 101.
But what can the Techs do about it?
The best defense is a good offense. That means take it among yourselves to figure it out FOR YOUR BOSS.
- If you know there’s a shift that is overstaffed sometime during the week, tweak it. Figure out how it could be staffed better. Offer a solution that might still afford SOME hours to the affected Techs before ALL hours are cut.
2. If 80% of the other departments already had their Culligan water service terminated…offer up yours. But rebuttal with an ad hoc filtered water treatment system like Brita. Then at least you will have filtered water and not end up with straight sink water.
3. If everyone agrees to rotate going home early on Fridays, then no one Tech is going to lose an entire shift on Fridays.
4. Consider spearheading a lunch program that see to it that all Techs get a lunch break. Radiology departments spend unwanted expenses on Techs who are “too busy” to take a lunch. That extra 30 minutes that the Tech gets paid adds up when a handful of Techs are doing it multiple times each week.
My point is, there are several offensive maneuvers the Techs can make to be proactive in saving the department some money.
These projects can help offset the reduction in reimbursement rates that are inevitably headed our way.
The last thing you want as a Tech is for a Senior Administrator who doesn’t know radiology from astrology to tell your boss how to cut expenses.
So help your leader out. Brainstorm some ideas of pizza and beer some weekend.
Don’t wait until someone quits and your boss isn’t allowed to replace them.
And watch each other’s backs. Techs who work as a team have much higher employment satisfaction and less stress.
So, You are all good at what you do and you have a license to prove it. Don’t let anyone tell you any different.
