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 complete a questionnaire designed to address the impact of managed care on research and scholarly activity. Information, when available, was taken from fiscal years 1993 and 1998. Questionnaires were followed by site visits to the 12 departments. The study showed that departments with medium to high managed care penetration reported more dissatisfaction in their ability to remain active in their education and research goals. Results indicated that for the period surveyed, the departments needed to increase clinical time to make up for decreasing patient care revenues. In turn, this has reduced the time and money devoted to scholarly activities. Information from this study will be used to develop a trends database for all U.S. radiology and radiation 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 radiology and radiation oncology.