Category: Radiologists

The 40 Top Radiology Resources for 2026

Posted on by Brian Casey

Our list of the best radiology news sources last year generated a lot of excitement, so we’re updating the list for 2026 with the people and publications we rely on to find the most interesting medical imaging stories. 

Radiology has seen major changes in social media use since we last updated the list. Key opinion leaders briefly flirted with Bluesky as an alternative to X (formerly Twitter), but as the year went on enthusiasm waned as engagement faltered. Instead, LinkedIn seems to be emerging as the platform of choice for many clinicians and business executives.

Regardless of platform, this list of top radiology resources should keep you well-informed about healthcare’s top medical specialty.

TOP RADIOLOGY SITES

From a radiology newsletter with a laser focus on AI to an educational site with thousands of radiology cases, you’re sure to find something that meets your needs from the list below.

  • AI for Radiology – A great source for news on AI, including the Project AIR testing clearinghouse.
  • CTisUs – Elliott Fishman, MD’s excellent site for educational radiology content.
  • Medality Radiology Report Podcast – Medality CEO Daniel Arnold interviews the biggest names in medical imaging.
  • RadAccess – Newsletter run by Campbell Arnold, PhD, dedicated to improving access to radiology.
  • radHQ.net Forums – Public bulletin board that’s a great place to hear what keeps radiologists up at night. 
  • Radiopaedia – Excellent site for educational radiology content with a global focus.
  • Signify Research – The best radiology market analysis, backed by actual market data.

TOP RADIOLOGY KEY OPINION LEADERS 

Radiology is fortunate to have a wealth of really smart people sharing their thoughts. Here are a few of the best.

AI and Imaging IT

Business and Vendors

  • Jan Beger – OEM executive with insightful high-level thoughts on AI.
  • Morris Panner – Imaging IT executive with cogent takes on the intersection of technology and patient care. 
  • Sebastian Schmidt, MD – OEM executive with thought-provoking analysis of CT lung cancer screening.
  • Reza Zahiri – Detailed LinkedIn posts that deconstruct the financial positions of medical imaging vendors.

Education

  • Gennaro D’Anna, MD – Italian radiologist focusing on education and social media.
  • Francis Deng, MD – Great analysis of radiology education and residency trends.
  • Tan-Lucien Mohammed, MD – Radiologist with educational focus on radiology anatomy.
  • Amy Patel, MD – Tireless advocate for radiology (and the Kansas City Chiefs).
  • Vikas Shah, MD – Radiopaedia managing editor known for high-quality educational content.
  • Chaundria Singleton – Radiologic technologist educator and host of A Couple of Rad Techs podcast. 

Legal and Regulatory 

  • Sandy Coffta – Great source for information on U.S. reimbursement changes.
  • Tobias Gilk – Radiology’s conscience on MRI safety. 
  • Tom Greeson – The authority for perspectives on legal issues in radiology.
  • Hugh Harvey, MD – Excellent source on AI regulation.
  • Mark Weiss – Authoritative voice on legal issues in radiology. 

Practice Management and Leadership

  • Rich Duszak, MD – A superb source for radiology leadership and responsible imaging.
  • Jay Gurney – Executive recruiter and podcaster who hears about industry trends before they make headlines. 
  • Geraldine McGinty, MD – Still the moral compass of radiology.
  • Rasu Shrestha, MD – Radiologist-turned-health-executive.  
  • Ben White, MD – Excellent insights into the vagaries of being a working radiologist.

HEALTHCARE NEWSLETTERS AND WEBSITES 

Looking to get out of the radiology niche and broaden your horizons? Insight Links also offers newsletters covering the cardiology and digital health fields:

The Takeaway

This list should cover all your bases for staying informed about the latest developments in radiology news. Or, just sign up for The Imaging Wire and we’ll do it for you.

When Radiologists Quit

Posted on by Brian Casey

The chance that a radiologist would quit their job for a new one doubled over a recent 10-year period. And a new JACR study identifies the exact point in terms of case workload when radiologists are most likely to leave.

The burnout epidemic among healthcare professionals has been closely tied to workload, which has been rising steadily due to growing patient volumes and ongoing staff shortages.

  • In radiology, the problem has been exacerbated as radiologists are reading more images (from more complex cases) while the number of new radiologists being trained in residency programs remains static.

In the new paper, researchers from the ACR’s Neiman HPI investigated changes in radiologist turnover from 2013 to 2022 and how they compared with workload as measured by work relative value units, the most standard measure of physician productivity. 

  • They analyzed data on services provided by 39.4k unique radiologists representing 280.7k radiologist-years over the study period, then correlated that with data on how often radiologists changed practices.

Researchers found…

  • The radiologist turnover rate increased 61% (from 5.3% to 8.5%).
  • Odds of radiologist turnover were nearly 2X in 2022 versus 2013 (OR = 1.96).
  • And were 6% higher for female radiologists and 12% higher for metropolitan versus nonmetropolitan radiologists.
  • While academic radiologists had 9% lower turnover odds than nonacademic imagers.

But what about the connection between workload and turnover? This is where the study gets interesting, as the researchers found a U-shaped relationship between the two.

At low wRVU levels, turnover tended to drop as workload went up, perhaps as radiologists found more job satisfaction (and maybe higher pay) with more work to do.

But this changed once wRVUs hit a threshold, and turnover began rising as well, apparently as radiologists found themselves overworked. This inflection point differed for different types of radiologists…

  • Occurring at 12.9k wRVUs for all radiologists.
  • But at 13.4k wRVUs for private-practice radiologists.
  • And only 8.8k wRVUs for academic radiologists.

The 34% lower wRVU threshold for academic radiologists could be because many have prioritized research and teaching, and see a growing clinical care workload as a distraction without commensurate compensation. 

The Takeaway

The new study offers a fascinating look at the forces driving when and why radiologists quit, and provides a new benchmark showing precisely where the breaking point is for most radiologists. Let’s hope this data is put to good use.  

Some Rads Are Working Harder – But Not All

Posted on by Brian Casey

If you feel like you’re working harder than your colleagues, you might not be wrong. New data on changes in imaging volume in the U.S. before and after the COVID-19 pandemic show that while volume grew faster than the supply of radiologists, those reading the most imaging exams shouldered most of the burden.

Medical imaging volume has become a closely watched barometer as radiologists struggle to manage a rising tide of imaging exams with a workforce that’s largely stagnant. 

  • Various technologies – especially AI – have been suggested as possible solutions by enabling radiologists to work more efficiently and churn out more cases per day.

The COVID-19 pandemic complicated efforts to track imaging volume over time, as exam volumes dropped dramatically in 2020 before eventually rebounding. 

  • So how much is imaging volume growing, and how hard are radiologists working to meet demand? 

The new JACR study compared imaging volumes, radiologist workforce growth, and corresponding workload for 1.6k radiologists from 167 U.S. practices before and after the pandemic (December 2017 to February 2024). The researchers found…

  • Imaging exam volume grew 31% over the entire seven-year period, at a 4.6% compound annual growth rate.
  • The number of working radiologists grew 24%, at a CAGR of 3.6%.
  • There was little change in the overall number of exams radiologists read per day over the study period (49.1 vs. 49.4 exams).
  • But the top quartile of radiologists by reading volume was reading 31% more exams/day by the end of the study (from 57 to 74 exams).
  • While bottom-quartile radiologists saw their productivity decline 32% (from 79 to 54 exams).

As a side note, researchers concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately had a “modest effect” on the number of working radiologists, although rates of part-time work were higher during the pandemic.

The Takeaway

The new findings on imaging volume and radiologist productivity have fascinating implications. In aggregate, it seems that radiologists are keeping pace with rising volumes. But a closer look shows that the burden is falling disproportionately on those radiologists who are most productive – a trend that contributes to burnout among the very professionals the discipline should be working hardest to keep.

VC Radiology Funding Drops

Posted on by Brian Casey

Venture capital investment in radiology peaked in 2021 at just over $2B and has been on a slow decline since then. That’s according to a study in JACR that documents the ebb and flow of VC investment, in particular its shift to companies developing AI algorithms. 

VC investment is the lifeblood of any industry built on innovation, and healthcare is no exception. 

  • Venture capital funding helps many innovators bring their ideas to fruition and helps fund them until revenue from product sales can start rolling in.

So it stands to reason that changes in VC funding levels can have ripple effects, with declines potentially affecting the rate of new technology development.

  • Indeed, some studies have found that every 1% increase in interest rates can cause a 3% decline in R&D spending and a 9% drop in patent filings.

The new research tracks VC funding specifically in radiology, with researchers from Emory and Harvard universities using PitchBook to track VC investments from 2000 to 2023. 

In particular, researchers found…

  • A total of $11.4B was invested in 646 radiology companies during the entire study period. 
  • The average investment was $6.3M with an average $51M post-investment valuation.
  • VC investment activity in radiology peaked in 2021 at $2.18B.
  • Medical devices attracted 28% of investment, followed by AI healthcare software (22%), non-AI healthcare software (18%), healthcare services (14%), and biotechnology and drug discovery (18%).

The new data track with research from other sources – like Signify Research – that have also documented a slowdown in radiology VC investment, particularly in AI. 

  • Most sources attribute the declines to the end of the “cheap money” era during the COVID-19 pandemic as governments began dialing back on stimulus payments and started raising interest rates to tamp down inflation. On the other hand, other research has found that the recent declines are occurring at a rate that’s not proportional to inflation or interest rates alone.

The Takeaway

The new JACR research comes as the investment and healthcare worlds are set to begin their annual courtship ritual next week at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. Undoubtedly these new findings will be a point of discussion as radiology companies look to secure the capital that will fuel the next innovations in medical imaging. 

Radiologist Pay Jumps Nearly 8% in New Survey

Posted on by Brian Casey

Radiologist pay jumped nearly 8% in 2024 in the latest salary survey from Doximity. That’s the good news. The bad news is that radiology actually slipped a couple notches compared to other highly paid medical specialties.

In its latest survey, Doximity found that radiologists had an average annual salary of $572k in 2024. 

  • That’s up 7.5% compared to $532k in last year’s edition of the survey, giving radiologists the fourth-largest salary increase among medical specialties. 

Radiology’s salary growth accelerated in 2024 compared to 2023, when radiology pay grew 5.6%. 

  • And the growth rate is up sharply compared to 2022, when rad salaries grew only 1.6% in a year when many doctors saw salary declines.

Diagnostic radiology occupied the 11th spot on Doximity’s list of highest-compensated specialties in 2024, slipping a couple positions compared to the 9th spot in last year’s survey. 

  • Moving ahead of radiology were pediatric (general) surgery and interventional radiology, two new physician categories added with this year’s survey.

Overall, the Doximity report found that physician compensation growth slowed last year compared to 2023 (3.7% vs. 5.9%), and the report also noted several other broad healthcare trends…

  • The gender gap for doctor compensation worsened in 2024, with men now making 26% more than women compared to 23% more in 2023.
  • Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement cuts are weighing heavily on physicians, with nearly one-third of doctors saying they have already (17%) or plan to in the future (13%) reduce how many of these patients they see. 
  • And the vast majority agreed (33%) or strongly agreed (48%) that current reimbursement policy is contributing to the decline of private-practice medicine. 
  • Burnout levels appear to be easing from the peak a few years ago, with fewer doctors saying they feel overworked (62% vs. 67%) and fewer saying they are thinking about leaving clinical practice (39% vs. 50%).

The Takeaway

Industry observers can complain about how AI and private equity are ruining radiology (see our title quote above), but the fact is that radiologists are still enjoying salary levels and compensation growth rates near the top of medicine. It’s not a bad price to pay.

AI and Legal Liability in Radiology

Posted on by Brian Casey

What impact will artificial intelligence have on the legal liability of the radiologists who use it? A new study in NEJM AI suggests that medical malpractice juries may pass harsher judgment on radiologists when they make mistakes that disagree with AI findings.

AI is viewed as a technology that can save radiologists time while also helping them make more accurate diagnoses.

  • But there’s a dark side to AI as well – what happens when AI findings aren’t correct, or when radiologists disagree with AI only to discover it was right all along?

In the new study, a research team led by Michael Bernstein, PhD, of Brown University queried 1.3k U.S. adults on their attitudes toward radiologists’ legal liability in two clinical use cases for AI – identifying brain bleeds and detecting lung cancers.

  • Participants were asked if they felt radiologists met their duty of care to patients across different scenarios, such as whether the AI and the radiologist agreed or disagreed on the original diagnosis. 

Responses were compared to a “no AI” control scenario in which respondents assessed legal liability if radiologists hadn’t used AI at all, with researchers finding …

  • If radiologists disagreed with AI, more respondents found radiologists liable …
    • Brain bleeds: 73% found radiologist liable (vs. 50% with no AI)
    • Lung cancer: 79% found radiologist liable (vs. 64% with no AI)
  • If both radiologists and AI missed the diagnosis, there was no statistically significant difference …
    • Brain bleeds: (50% vs. 56% with no AI, p=0.33)
    • Lung cancer: (64% vs. 65% with no AI, p=0.77)
  • Respondents were less likely to side with plaintiffs when given information about standard AI error rates …
    • When AI agreed with the radiologist diagnosis:
      • Brain bleeds: (73% plaintiff agreement fell to 49%)
      • Lung cancer: (79% fell to 73%)
    • When AI disagreed with the radiologist diagnosis:
      • Brain bleeds: (50% plaintiff agreement fell to 34%)
      • Lung cancer: (64% fell to 56%)

The Takeaway

The new study offers a fascinating look at AI’s future in radiology from a medico-legal perspective. But there’s one question the researchers didn’t address: If AI-supported image interpretation eventually becomes the standard of care, will radiologists be found liable for not using it at all? Stay tuned. 

Radiology Workforce Shortage Tightens

Posted on by Brian Casey

Radiologist attrition rates have jumped 50% since 2020, and new workforce projections suggest the shortage will only worsen as imaging demand continues to outpace supply. The report – from staffing firm Medicus Healthcare Solutions – projects a worsening supply of radiologists by 2037.

It’s no news to anyone that healthcare is being squeezed by rising volumes from an aging population and chronic staff shortages caused by a training system that simply isn’t turning out enough qualified medical professionals.

  • In radiology, both radiologists and radiologic technologists are in short supply, and there have been only 29 diagnostic radiology PGY-1 training positions added since 2021. 

The Medicus report mostly assembles data acquired from other sources such as a recent study in JACR on radiologist supply, but taken together the numbers paint a sobering picture …

  • Imaging utilization is projected to grow 17-27% by 2055.
  • Radiologist attrition rates have grown 50% since 2020. 
  • Radiologist distribution per 100k population is uneven across the U.S., ranging from 25 radiologists in Minnesota to 9 radiologists in some other states.
  • Reimbursement is falling, with the Medicare conversion factor for 2025 dropping -2.83% for diagnostic radiology and -4.83% for interventional radiology.

What’s to be done? On the positive side, at least one new radiologist residency program started up this year, and legislation was recently introduced that would add 14k residency training slots over seven years. 

  • The report also recommends teleradiology as a possible solution, with 92% of radiologists in a recent survey saying their institution offered remote work options and 73% of radiologists participating in remote work. 

Medicus also advised health systems to take several compensation-focused steps to attract and retain radiologists …

  • Offer flexible, hybrid work schedules.
  • Provide competitive compensation packages and signing bonuses.
  • Improve vacation policies and time-off benefits.

The Takeaway

It’s hard to see short-term Band-Aids like better salary and benefits solving healthcare’s workforce shortage. And some are even questioning whether AI will really help make radiologists more efficient. In the end, systemic changes like a sharp expansion in residency training slots are what’s needed to effect a long-term solution to the staffing dilemma. 

Who’s Reading Office-Based Medical Images?

Posted on by Brian Casey

Non-radiologist providers are reading almost half of medical images acquired in the office practice setting. A new analysis in AJR raises questions about both the quality of these interpretations as well as whether they are contributing to imaging overutilization. 

Radiologists have jealously guarded their role as the primary interpreters of medical images, but keeping referring physicians away is like holding back the tide – especially when they control the patients.

  • Progress was made in the 1990s with the passage of Stark legislation prohibiting doctors from referring patients to sites where they have a financial interest, but Stark includes an exemption for imaging performed in the doctors’ own offices.

This in-office exemption is a loophole big enough to drive a truck through, and as in-office imaging has grown radiologists have raised questions about:

1. Whether non-radiologist providers have adequate training in image interpretation. 

2. If the economic incentive behind in-office imaging contributes to imaging overutilization. 

So to learn more about who’s reading in-office images, researchers from the ACR’s Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute analyzed 1.6M office-based imaging studies from 2022, discovering … 

  • 44% of office-based medical images are self-interpreted by the provider who ordered them.
  • Self-interpretation rates varied by modality: ultrasound (52%), X-ray (50%), nuclear medicine (40%), MRI (6.1%), and CT (5.3%). 
  • As well as by specialty: orthopedic/sports medicine (76%), cardiology (73%), non-physician providers (31%), primary care (20%), and other specialties (38%). 
  • Larger practices had lower self-interpretation rates, as did practices with a radiologist on-staff.

High image self-interpretation rates could be a patient care issue given that – other than cardiology – non-radiologist physicians don’t usually receive extensive training in image interpretation. 

  • Imaging overutilization could also be occurring as there are no reimbursement restrictions on in-office self-referring physicians, and studies have shown that the Stark laws failed to achieve reductions in self-referred imaging volumes.

The Takeaway

The new study sheds light on one of healthcare’s most persistent problems – in-office physician self-referral. The question is whether it’s a problem that will eventually take care of itself as healthcare consolidation leads to larger medical practices that are more likely to have radiologists on staff. 

More Radiologists Working for PE Practices

Posted on by Brian Casey

The share of U.S. radiologists working for practices owned by private equity has skyrocketed over the past decade, from 1% in 2013 to 12% in 2023. That’s according to a new study in AJR that documents the growing trend of PE ownership in medical imaging. 

As we reported recently, the growing number of private equity acquisitions in healthcare has raised questions about PE’s impact on patient care.

  • In radiology, some industry observers worry that PE acquisitions are changing the specialty in fundamental ways, turning radiologists from owner-stakeholders into corporate employees.

The new study analyzed PE acquisitions from 2013 to 2023, with a specific focus on geographic variations. 

  • Researchers found 151 PE acquisitions of radiology practices in the U.S. over the 11-year study period, through December 2023. 

Key findings were broken down as follows…

  • The share of radiologists working for PE practices boomed (12% from 1%). 
  • PE-acquired practices were associated with 16% of all U.S. radiology locations.
  • The states with the highest shares of PE-employed radiologists were Nevada (47%), Arizona (44%), Alaska (29%), Texas (27%), and Florida (24%).
  • Companies accounting for the largest number of PE-employed radiologists were Radiology Partners (70%), LucidHealth (8%), and US Radiology Specialists (7%).

The new findings echo previous research showing PE’s geographic penetration to be greatest in the West and Southeast. 

  • They also underline the extent to which Radiology Partners dominates PE acquisitions as it brings independent imaging practices under its umbrella. 

The Takeaway

The new study – along with other recent research – demonstrates the extent to which private equity acquisitions are changing the face of radiology. Researchers should take the next step and investigate PE’s impact on radiologists’ career satisfaction, and by extension, patient care. 

Forecasting Radiologist Supply

Posted on by Brian Casey

Two new studies published this week in JACR raise the provocative question: Will there be a radiologist shortage in the future given growing demand for medical imaging services?

It’s a question that’s become commonplace across healthcare as burnout and other issues prompt many physicians to leave the field. 

  • This has caused workforce shortages that raise questions about whether the U.S. – and other advanced economies – will be able to meet growing demand for healthcare services by an aging population.

The new studies were conducted by Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute researchers and each tackles one aspect of the supply/demand equation over the next 30 years. 

The first study analyzed past growth in the radiologist workforce to find …

  • There were 37.5k radiologists enrolled to provide care to Medicare patients in 2023. 
  • With no growth in the number of residency positions, there will be 47.1k radiologists in 2055, an increase of 26%.
  • If residency positions grow, there will be 52.6k radiologists, an increase of 40%.

The wildcard here is growth in residency positions, which are mostly controlled by Medicare through its graduate medical education program – and it literally takes an act of Congress to increase the number of trainee positions. 

  • Another factor is whether the higher physician attrition rate seen during the COVID-19 pandemic continues into the future. 

The second study addressed growth in imaging volume by analyzing trends in claims data for Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance, finding …

  • Imaging utilization will be 17-27% higher by modality by 2055 assuming no continuation of recent utilization trends.
  • Most utilization growth will be seen in nuclear medicine (27%), CT (25%), interventional radiology (23%), X-ray (18%), and MRI and ultrasound (17% each).
  • Adding recent utilization trends to the model finds utilization by 2055 either -5.6% lower or up by 45%.

Factors affecting future utilization include population growth (73-88% of increase) and population aging (12-27%). 

The Takeaway

So will there be a radiologist shortage in the future? The new studies indicate that there are too many variables to make an accurate prediction right now. But they do provide a foundation for future research – and debate. 

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