Impact of managed care on scholarly activity and patient care: Case study of 12 academic radiology and radiation oncology departments

Six departments of radiology and six departments of radiation oncology from areas with low, medium, or high managed care penetration were asked to com plete a questionnaire designed to address the impact of managed care on res earch and scholarly activity. Information, when available, was taken from f iscal years 1993 and 1998. Questionnaires were followed by site visits to t he 12 departments. The study showed that departments with medium to high ma naged care penetration reported more dissatisfaction in their ability to re main active in their education and research goals. Results indicated that f or the period surveyed, the departments needed to increase clinical time to make up for decreasing patient care revenues. In turn, this has reduced th e time and money devoted to scholarly activities. Information from this stu dy will be used to develop a trends database for all U.S. radiology and rad iation oncology departments. This, together with a more comprehensive study by the RSNA, will assist in measuring the current and potential long-term impact of managed care and other system changes on the practice of radiolog y and radiation oncology.