Facts and figures

Highly skilled clinicians who are essential to generating revenue, containing costs and providing quality care

Download and share this SIR issue brief and related infographic with hospital administrators, payers, referrers and other key decision-makers who need to know the value of your practice.

Interventional radiology’s contributions to the field of medicine are vast and continue to grow at a rapid pace. Estimates predict the IR market to be valued at $29.2 billion by 2024—a 6.1% compounded annual growth rate.1

As the field’s advancements in research and cutting-edge technological treatments expand, so too has the role of the IR in patient care. Innovative, minimally invasive treatments are precisely targeted, with the potential to reduce costs to hospitals and payors, minimize complications, and improve quality of care.

By investing in interventional radiology and expanding its access to patients, the value of IR can be multiplied throughout the healthcare ecosystem.

Generating revenue and driving growth through clinical care

23% projected growth in outpatient IR over a 10-year span2

Building IR capabilities can provide new growth opportunities for hospital stakeholders. IRs perform highly efficient treatments with shorter recovery times, ideally suited for outpatient and lower-cost free-standing centers. The specialty also has the capability to effectively manage outpatients after discharge, avoiding readmissions and potentially leading to additional cost savings. One model of a hypothetical IR clinic predicted $992,000 in annual charges and collected revenues of $298,000 as a result of robust outpatient IR care.3

From a competitive standpoint, IR provides cutting-edge care that uses its advanced technological reputation to influence patients in their care decisions. Having robust IR capabilities in the inpatient setting could aid in attracting more patients. From an ambulatory perspective, one health system experienced a 722% increase in evaluation and management (E&M) billing charges over 3 years as a result of their IR inpatient care, with work relative value units (wRVUs) increasing by 669%.4 As more patients look for innovative treatments that are less invasive and require a shorter recovery time, demand for IR treatments will continue to grow.

Mount Sinai Hospital: How an IR department achieved clinical and financial double-digit growth

One teaching hospital in New York City experienced a transformational journey with their IR department that resulted in a rapid increase in revenue with unprecedented growth. They moved from having 65% of IR treatments conducted as inpatient procedures to 65% of procedures being done on an outpatient basis. As a result, Mount Sinai interventional radiology grew from just one hospital with five IR rooms and five staff members, to six hospitals with 13 IR rooms and 10 IR staff within 10 years, and they increased their revenue 10-fold.

Part of this transformational shift in IR care happened through the development of a multidisciplinary hospital-based outpatient center built around patient satisfaction within the liver disease program.

The outpatient center is comprised of interventional radiologists, hepatobiliary surgeons, hepatologists and a team from liver transplant to become a one-stop shop for liver cancer patients.

The well-coordinated care in the outpatient center led to higher patient satisfaction and resulted in:

A financial windfall for the hospital’s outpatient setting

A spike in regional and national referrals

The number of patients coming to the center doubling over five years

Liver transplant numbers increasing 8–12% annually since the outpatient center was launched

Containing costs

The cost of a chest port insertion in an IR suite is almost 200% lower than an insertion placed in the operating room.5

When patients are treated by an IR, the benefits of this specialized care extend beyond the patient. With less-invasive treatments, the overall cost of care—to hospitals and insurers—can be substantially reduced. Additionally, the benefit of reducing costs while providing high-quality outcomes aligns with risk-based payment models, making IR treatments well positioned for the shift to value-based care.

1. Lower costs

Treatments often result in fewer interventions and complications, resulting in more cost-effective treatments.

Five-year costs associated with dialysis access patency are 57% less with IRs as compared to other specialties.6

2. Reduce length of stay

IR treatments have flexibility to be done on the weekend, reducing length of stay for many patients.

Routine weekend IR treatments allow 24% of patients to be discharged earlier than anticipated and 174 hospital days to be gained.7

3. Reduce waste

IRs can help reduce waste by avoiding repeat procedures, reducing ICU use and optimizing hospital resources.

Medicare analysis shows lower extremity endovascular interventions done by IRs save $1,372 per procedure as compared to other specialties.8

Delivering quality care

$2,000 per patient-day opportunity

IR treatments are safe for patients and result in fewer complications than comparable surgical procedures. But as natural collaborators and problem-solvers, IRs also add their expertise to improve the outcomes and performance of other procedures, making care safer throughout the system. As a result, patients are able to go home healthier and avoid being readmitted to the hospital.

Having an IR on call can minimize a patient’s length of stay (LOS), and having IR services available on the weekends can not only reduce hospital length of stay but also progress patients toward an early discharge.14 This reduced LOS yields a large return on investment (ROI): Analysis has shown cost savings of between 200-500 patient days through expediting several procedures could be $5–$10 million annually.

How to maximize the value of IR:

  • Expand IR offerings based on the staff and technology resources available.
  • Offer IR consultations for patients who have been referred to surgery.
  • Integrate care to encourage collaboration between specialties.

Additionally, avoiding readmissions can reduce potential penalties, and leads to better outcomes for patients as well as management of hospital wide capacity. This also allows for more highly reimbursed primary admissions in the long run.

The innovative nature of IR:

IRs can target virtually every part of the body

IRs collaborate with multiple specialties, including oncology, radiology and gynecology

IRs attract thoughtful and savvy patients who are looking for novel, innovative treatment options

IRs use the latest technology to continually advance treatment options for patients

IR is an essential component to many revenue generating service lines offered by hospitals, such as organ transplant, oncology, stroke care and trauma

References

  1. Global interventional Radiology market – industry trends and forecast to 2027. (2019, December). Retrieved March 09, 2021, from https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-interventional-radiology-market
  2. Morrill M, Gilbert D, Daugherty A. How to Grow Your Interventional Radiology Program. Advisory Board. 2016.
  3. Misono, A., Mueller, P., Hirsch, J., Harbaugh, A., Sheridan, R., Liu, R. (2016). Outpatient interventional radiology clinic: Financial modeling predicts revenues and profitability. Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, 27(3). doi:10.1016/j.jvir.2015.12.127
  4. White, S. B., Dybul, S. L., Patel, P. J., Hohenwalter, E. J., Hieb, R. A., Shah, S. P., . . . Tutton, S. M. (2015). A single center experience in capturing inpatient evaluation and management for an IR practice. Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, 26(7), 958-962. doi:10.1016/j.jvir.2015.03.013
  5. LaRoy JR, White SB, Jayakrishnan T, Dybul S, Ungerer D, Turaga K, Patel PJ. Cost and Morbidity Analysis of Chest Port Insertion: Interventional Radiology Suite Versus Operating Room. J Am Coll Radiol. 2015 Jun;12(6):563-71. doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2015.01.012. PMID: 26047398; PMCID: PMC4655878.
  6. Trivedi, P., Jensen, A., Brown, M., Hong, K., Borgstede, J., Lindrooth, R., Duszak, R., Rochon, P., Ryu, R. (2020). Cost Analysis of Dialysis Access Maintenance Interventions across Physician Specialties in U.S. Medicare Beneficiaries. Radiology, 297 (2). doi:10.1148/radiol.2020192403
  7. Ahmed, M., Sarwar, A., Hallett, D., Guthrie, M., O’Bryan, B., Mehta, S., . . . Faintuch, S. (2018). Impact of performing nonurgent interventional radiology procedures on weekends. Journal of the American College of Radiology, 15(9), 1246-1253. doi:10.1016/j.jacr.2018.05.029
  8. Zafar, A., Dhangana, R., & Murphy, T. (2012). Lower extremity endovascular interventions for Medicare beneficiaries: Comparative effectiveness as a function of provider specialty. Journal of Vascular Surgery, 56(2), 573. doi:10.1016/j.jvs.2012.06.065
  9. Cucchetti A, Piscaglia F, Cescon M, et al. Cost-effectiveness of hepatic resection versus percutaneous radiofrequency ablation for early hepatocellular carcinoma. Journal of Hepatology. 2013;59(2):300-307. doi:10.1016/j.jhep.2013.04.009.
  10. Kwan SW, Mortell KE, Hippe DS, Brunner MC. An Economic Analysis of Sublobar Resection versus Thermal Ablation for Early-Stage Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer. Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology. 2014;25(10):1558-1564. doi:10.1016/j.jvir.2014.07.002.
  11. Volkers NA, Hehenkamp WJK, Smit P, Ankum WM, Reekers JA, Birnie, E. Economic Evaluation of Uterine Artery Embolization versus Hysterectomy in the Treatment of Symptomatic Uterine Fibroids: Results from the Randomized EMMY Trial. Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology. 2008; 19(7):1007-16. doi: 10.1016/j.jvir.2008.03.001.
  12. LaRoy JR, White SB, Jayakrishnan T, et al. Cost and Morbidity Analysis of Chest Port Insertion: Interventional Radiology Suite Versus Operating Room. Journal of the American College of Radiology. 2015;12(6):563-571. doi:10.1016/j.jacr.2015.01.012.
  13. Itagaki MW, Talenfeld AD, Kwan SW, Brunner JWM, Mortell KE, Brunner MC. Percutaneous Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty for Pathologic Vertebral Fractures in the Medicare Population: Safer and Less Expensive than Open Surgery. Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology. 2012;23(11):1423-1429. doi:10.1016/j.jvir.2012.08.010.
  14. Ahmed M, Sarwar A, Hallett D, Guthrie M, O’Bryan B, Mehta S, Fudim T, Faintuch S. Impact of Performing Nonurgent Interventional Radiology Procedures on Weekends. J Am Coll Radiol. 2018 Sep;15(9):1246-1253. doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2018.05.029. Epub 2018 Jul 14. PMID: 30017623.
  15. Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Regional Health Network.

Related resources

  • Download and share this SIR issue brief and related infographic with hospital administrators, payers, referrers and other key decision-makers who need to know the value of your practice.
  • Listen to interventional radiologist Katharine L. Krol, MD, FSIR, discuss IR reimbursement in the Kinked Wire podcast: