Ep. 557 Proving Your Worth to the Hospital: Economics of Hospital Based IR with Dr. Matt Hawkins

How can interventional radiologists turn their unique capabilities into revenue? Dr. Matt Hawkins, interventional radiologist and Health Policy and Economics councilor at the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), joins host Dr. Ally Baheti to discuss how interventional radiologists can prove (and get paid for) the value that they bring to hospitals.

---

This podcast is supported by:

Medtronic Emprint
https://www.medtronic.com/emprint

RADPAD® Radiation Protection
https://www.radpad.com/

---

SYNPOSIS

The doctors discuss key physician reimbursement models, including the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS) for hospital outpatient and Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRGs) for hospital inpatient, as well as strategies for negotiating subsidies. Dr. Hawkins covers key strategies for proving the value of IR to hospitals, emphasizing the importance of moving beyond work RVUs and focusing on the technical revenue generated for hospitals. The discussion underscores the critical role that IR plays in trauma, transplant, and cancer care. Lastly, Dr. Hawkins highlights SIR’s economic initiative emphasizing the importance of accurate documentation and coding in order to turn our clinical impact into measurable value.

---

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Introduction
01:58 - Understanding Professional and Technical Reimbursement
04:49 - Hospital Reimbursement Structures
07:59 - Quantifying Value and Negotiating Contracts
15:55 - Economic Arguments for IR in Trauma, Transplant, and Cancer
23:01 - The Importance of IR Leadership in Mixed IRDR Groups
25:13 - Challenges and Strategies for Independent IR Practices
28:41 - Maximizing Revenue Through Evaluation and Management (E&M)
36:40 - Navigating Coding and Documentation for Better Negotiation
38:54 - Financial Literacy and Business Strategies