I believe in the importance of thriving independent private practices for the field of radiology. True private practice–where doctors control the organization, are responsible to their peers and patients, and earn the full fruits of their labor–is the benchmark that sets the market and provides the anchor against exploitation from unscrupulous employers.

My group, like most groups in this market, is hiring. Here are 10 more 100%-independent radiologist-owned private practices across the US that are recruiting. If you’re in the market for a new position, consider reaching out with your CV. (Click the triangles for more information.)

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Radiology Associates of Ocala

(Ocala, Florida)

A growing Central Florida private practice, rare for the region, with 70+ radiologists looking for an on-site general radiologist.

• Practice owns multiple imaging centers, generating technical fees and rental income for partners.
• New business ventures of software development and a separate Telerad company.
• Optional internal moonlighting available. Nights are covered by dedicated internal nighthawks.
• Option to rotate/vacation in the US Virgin Islands at a practice-owned timeshare at the St. Thomas Ritz.

Remote Partnership:

• 1-year track, professional-fee exclusive, 226 shifts with 10 weeks vacation and 8 weekends, $500-700k+

On-site Partnership:

• 3-year track, no partnership tiers, additional income from technical fee billing, management revenue, and real estate. Nominal buy-in and equal call/PTO/scheduling for pre-partner and partners. 14+ weeks vacation (~185 shifts/yr), $800k-1mm+

Learn more at https://raocala.com.
Contact: Dr. Vivek Kalra at Vivek.Kalra@raocala.com

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Mecklenburg Radiology Associates

(Charlotte, North Carolina)

Established in 1917 and fiercely independent, MRA is a well-respected subspecialized practice of 60 radiologists and growing. They especially take pride in their group culture (seriously, there are some really nice people in that group including one of my old senior residents).

Partnership track:

• 3-year partnership track with 8 weeks of vacation per year
  $400K starting salary and an additional $75K sign-on bonus ($125K with 2+ years of experience)
• On-site daytime hospital and imaging center coverage. Hybrid evening and weekend call coverage, including the option to read from home.
• Available positions: Breast, Body, Cardiovascular, Neuro, Light IR, MSK, Nuclear Medicine, and General

Employee track:

• Fully remote, hybrid, or on-site options
• Competitive salary
• Available positions: General, Overnight ER, Swing Shift ER

Learn more at www.meckrad.com/recruitment.
Contact: Charlene Eichinger at ceichinger@meckrad.com

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Radiology and Imaging Specialists

(Central Florida: Lakeland/Winter Haven, SW Orlando, Bradenton)

Independent and long-standing group covering a diverse mix of financially sound hospital partners, outpatient imaging centers, an ASC/OBL, clinics, and a multi-specialty group. 50+ radiologists and 10+ midlevel providers. In-house and experienced IT, Credentialing, HR, and Admin team including dedicated Radiology Liaison support 24/7/365.

Recruiting for Body, Breast, Cardiac, Neuro, IR, and General.

Partnership Track:

• 1-year track
• 10 weeks of vacation
• Sign-on bonus
• Internal moonlighting available but not required
• Full benefits including CME allocation

Employee or Contractor:

• Flexible scheduling: Hospital (ED/IP) or outpatient coverage options available
• Fully remote, hybrid, or on-site depending on location(s) and coverage schedule desired
• Competitive compensation

Learn more at http://risimaging.com.
Contact: Alice Varnadore, Executive Assistant at avarnadore@risimaging.com

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South Texas Radiology Group

(San Antonio, Texas)

STRG is a well-established, expanding, independent subspecialty practice of 70+ radiologists serving 15 hospitals, multiple freestanding ED facilities, and a large outpatient imaging practice (STRIC). Both onsite and remote positions are available.

STRG is a forward-thinking practice with a strong and cohesive culture. Multiple AI projects are in place and in progress to improve efficiency and quality. Internal moonlighting opportunities are available.

Shareholder Track:

• 18-month associate period leading to full partnership with board of directors membership.
• Equity within a large expanding outpatient imaging practice (STRIC)
• Competitive salary with excellent benefits package
• Onsite and work-from-home options for daily work and call
• Hiring across all specialties, with a current emphasis on Body Imaging and Cardiothoracic/Body

Emergency Radiology Track:

• 1 week on/1 week off (7/7) and 1 week on/2 weeks off (7/14) positions available
• Competitive salary with excellent benefits package
• Fully remote and onsite options available.

Learn more at https://stric.com/.
Contact: Waynea Finley at wfinley@strg-pa.com

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Midwest Radiology

(Minneapolis – St. Paul, Minnesota)

Large 175+ subspecialized practice with 17 weeks of vacation. Two-year shareholder track for new graduates and a one-year track with experience.

Positions (On-site):

Positions (Remote):

Learn more at www.midwestradiology.com.
Contact: Barry.Lindo@MidwestRadiology.com

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Grand Traverse Radiologists

(Traverse City, Michigan)

Established in 1938, GTR is a 100% physician-owned and operated private practice in a four-season resort town on the bays of Lake Michigan.

• High compensation and 12 weeks vacation
• Post-call weekend days off
• Internal moonlighting available
• Positions/partnerships are on-site, but multiple shifts can be done from home.
• Collegial and youthful group with an average age under 40. All partners are equal.
• Hiring for growth. Lists are caught up!

Needs: Body, Breast, ER/General, and IR

Learn more at https://www.grandtraverseradiologists.com
Contact: Dr. Anthony Livorine at alivorine@gtradiologists.com

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RAPA

(Central Arkansas [Little Rock, Conway, Searcy, and Pine Bluff] & Northwest Arkansas)

40+ radiologists covering 20+ sites with a multi-subspecialty mix of inpatient, outpatient, and ED imaging. Robust reading room assistants and IT presence to promote peak efficiency including a unified reading list/PACS (no switching stations or PACS to read other sites) and RadAI automated impressions to improve efficiency.

Greatest needs are IR, mammography, body imaging, MSK, and nuclear medicine, but all subspecialties and general radiologists are welcome.

Partnership track:

• 2 years to partner for new graduates, 1 year with experience
• 10 weeks vacation + 1/2 day off per week on average for partners
• Highly competitive compensation combined with a low cost of living
• Internal moonlighting options to boost income
• Robust CME allowance, signing and moving bonuses, full benefits
• Many work-from-home shift options
• Minimal after-hours requirements, overnight shifts are fully staffed with telerads

Employee track:

• Flexible scheduling (mammography, teleradiology swing shift, other options available)
• Fully remote, hybrid, or on-site options available
• Competitive salaries
• Robust CME allowance, signing and moving bonuses, full benefits

Learn more at http://rapaxray.com/
Contact: recruitment@rapaxray.com and Dr. Brandon Kelly at bkelly@rapaxray.com

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Iowa Radiology

(Des Moines, Iowa)

34-radiologist subspecialized collegial private practice with long-term stability providing coverage to 30 locations across Central and North Central Iowa. Ownership of several outpatient imaging locations yields distributions from technical fees, and Des Moines is one of the fastest-growing areas in the country with a low cost of living, excellent schools, and low taxes.

Partnership track:

• 2-year partnership track with 12 weeks vacation
• On-site daytime coverage; hybrid night and weekend call coverage
• Greatest needs: Breast, Neuro, General. All subspecialties considered for the right candidate.

Employee track:

• Fully remote, hybrid, or on-site options
• Excellent salary and benefits package, including up to 10 weeks of vacation
• Available positions: General, Breast, Flex Shift, Overnight
  • Overnight shift is 10p-8a CST, 7 on/14 off, 100% teleradiology with average 90-120 total cases per shift

Learn more at http://www.iowaradiology.com
Contact: recruit@iowarad.com

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Hudson Valley Radiologists

(Poughkeepsie, New York)

A congenial team of 25 sub-specialized radiologists in New York’s scenic Hudson Valley that understands the importance of work-life balance. Since the 1970s, HVR has been respected in the community and known for its entrepreneurial spirit and excellence in patient care, currently providing services to five local hospitals and multiple outpatient imaging centers.

Learn more at https://www.hvrads.com/
Contact: Dr. Evan Kurz at esk@hvrads.com

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Radiology Associates of North Texas

(Dallas, Fort Worth, Texarkana, Sherman/Denison, Longview, Tyler, Lubbock)

The largest 100% radiologist-owned and operated group in the country, serving the greater North Texas area since 1937. 290+ radiologists, 30+ APPs, and robust business staff support. Low turnover, healthy culture, ownership mentality, work-life balance, reasonable call schedules, and unlimited voluntary internal moonlighting (both scheduled shifts and anytime when not scheduled). 24/7 neuro and pedi subspecialty support.

The practice is organized into four distinct areas within DFW and seven distinct regions outside the Metroplex. This allows for practice opportunities ranging from small & intimate to large & subspecialized.

Positions (On-site):

Positions (Remote):

Learn more at https://radntx.com/radjobs

Contact: Todd Howard @ radjobs@radntx.com

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If you’re a group looking to advertise, get in touch. The monthly post here is limited to just 10 groups at a time, but in August I launched Independent Radiology as a resource for the broader community, a dedicated private practice radiology job board with 90+ groups so far. If you’re in the market, please also check it out for your job-hunting needs.

The radiologist shortage is definitely here. There are different ways to approach the market, but balancing short-term vs long-term plays is nontrivial. Leverage is great, but using too much can amplify negative downstream second-order consequences too.

What’s happening now varies and what will happen is anyone’s guess, but this anonymous op-ed “Radiologists need to be realistic about the job market” is absolutely worth reading.

…Hospitals quite literally cannot operate beyond a few hours without diagnostic radiology. We are the bottleneck for all inpatient care. All service lines run through us. Any radiologist can easily take one of the hundreds or thousands of teleradiology jobs, which offer less commute, less non-interpretive work, and often higher pay per hour. Hospital systems simply have no leverage against their radiologists except fear of the unknown.

We work in interesting times:

A group of radiologists is severely understaffed, reading far beyond what they normally would. Radiologists are overextended, and high-volume readers are threatening to quit unless something is done. The group is unable to afford hiring radiologists in the current market. Many other unsolvable issues, such as retirements, interpersonal issues, poor work ethic, interventional radiology (IR) vs. diagnostic radiology (DR) squabbles, and [plug in your practice’s problems here] plague the group. Negotiations with the hospital have yielded minimal results. What is a group to do? Take the money, or continue the negotiations?

Again, imagine all of the unsolvable problems this group may face: recruitment, billing issues, MIPS, exploding volumes during nights and weekends, older partners wanting to cut down or retire, cantankerous partners who are indispensable, ad infinitum. More money can’t solve all of these problems, because in this labor market, an exclusive contract is a massive liability. The group decides to turn these liabilities into leverage: They walk away from the contract and tell the hospital they can hire them as employees for base + productivity, or see you later.

The tables have immediately been turned. Suddenly, all of the issues that were unsolvable now become points of leverage. Can’t recruit? More leverage for us. Can’t staff weekends? More leverage for us. A couple of people retired? More leverage for those who stayed. Volume too high? I’m on productivity, or I’ll read slowly and take my base salary. Billing sucks? Not my problem. Overnight services increased their rates? Not my problem. Want to find another group? Good luck, there’s nobody else. We have three months of trailing AR to keep us fed until we get credentialed literally anywhere else.

Guess who wins?

The battle between Radiology Partners and UnitedHealthcare has ended with United as the victor.

The summary:

• RP claimed United owed them lots of money for underpayment because United was using a 2020 contract to determine some of its payments instead of a more lucrative 1998 contract originally held by one of its purchased groups, Singleton.
• United then sued Radiology Partners alleging an illegal pass-through billing scheme. It’s a good read.
• The arbitration panel awarded RP an interim award of $153 million. This was very much interim, not just because the independent panel had awkward bias conflicts, but also because the panel decided to separate the question of whether Singleton’s lucrative contract was in effect (it was) and if RP was abusing it (which it was) into separate steps.

The $153 million award would really have only been an extra $94 million since United had already paid for the work at a lower rate. (Author’s note: That’s quite the contract.)

Phase III–that awkward fraud question–just finished. The ultimate findings of the panel (free login required):

In the Phase I Decision entered on April 2, 2023, the Panel made the following finding: “The Panel finds the 1998 contract to be the operative agreement between the parties.” The Panel confirms this finding.

In Phase II the Panel entered the Interim Award On Singleton’s Arbitration Demand on September 26, 2023. The Panel now vacates that Interim Award.

The difference between the amount United paid on claims pursuant to the rates specified in the 2020 Agreement and the amount it would have paid pursuant to the rates specified in the 1998 Agreement is $94,275,324.00. United’s underpayment of Singleton’s claims at the rate specified in the 2020 Agreement was a breach of the 1998 Agreement.

Because of its breaches of the 1998 Agreement and its other acts and omissions, Singleton is not entitled to recover this difference and underpayment or any other relief against United. Because of its breaches of the 1998 Agreement and its other acts and omissions, United is not entitled to any other relief against Singleton. The Panel determines that the evidence fully supports these decisions at law and in equity.

Translation: you are both jerks, you are both wrong in your typical unique and despicable ways, please go away forever:

United was wrong to unilaterally use the incorrect contract to determine payments. RP was wrong to hide its ownership and then essentially pretend that every group in the region it owns was Singleton when they clearly weren’t.

(For more description/backstory, see the previous two posts: United against Radiology Partners & United is Still Fighting Radiology Partners.)

For those keeping score at home, United’s lawyer was correct when they said, “We do not agree that Singleton will recover an award from UnitedHealthcare.”

In other news, whether or not they were right, United is still a terrible company.