Basic characteristics of radiology practices: results from the American College of Radiology's 1999 survey.

OBJECTIVE. The basic characteristics of radiology practices in the United States are described. We defined radiology practices as diagnostic-radiology-only practices, either solo or multiradiologist practices. Findings were compared with those from other data sources. MATERIALS AND METHODS. In May 1999, the American College of Radiology surveyed 970 practices by mail using a 65-item questionnaire. A final response rate of 66% was achieved. Weighting was used to make responses representative of all radiology practices in the United States. RESULTS. Approximately 4400 radiology practices existed in the country; 39% were located in nonmetropolitan or rural areas. The greatest percentage of practices (85%) was private nonacademic radiology practices. The greatest percentage of practices (43%) served only hospitals. However, solo practices were particularly likely (p less than or equal to 0.01) to serve only nonhospital sites. Of all multiradiologist practices, 87% were completely owned by their members, but approximately two thirds of academic multiradiologist practices had outside owners. Seventy percent of multiradiologist practices interpreted images from outside clinics or groups; these averaged 3.2 outside clinics or groups for which they interpreted images. CONCLUSION. The basic characteristics of radiology practices in 1999 are described. Good agreement was seen with findings obtained from other data sources.