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NRMC to offer additional radiology services
Published Friday, September 18, 2009
NATCHEZ — A newly signed contract between Natchez Regional Medical Center and a Lake Charles-based radiology group will bring at least two new doctors to Natchez Regional and bring additional radiology services at the facility.
Natchez Regional Chief Administrating Officer Bruce Buchanan said the contract with Precision Radiology Management of Louisiana, which was finalized by the facility’s board of trustees at the end of August, goes into effect today.
And that means the hospital’s patients will have access to doctors and services they have not had before.
Natchez Regional Vice President of Medical Affairs Dr. Ken Stubbs said Precission Radiology will now be using a network of doctors across Louisiana and Mississippi to read test results from procedures like biopsies and mammograms.
However, Precision Radiology is not the same company Natchez Regional began talks with several months ago when it first began looking for outside radiologists.
Stubbs said “several issues” arose with that company and Natchez Regional was approached by Precission Radiology.
Stubbs said the partnership with Precision Radiology will allow Natchez Regional to have constant access to radiologists that will be able to read tests outside of Natchez.
Additionally, the new contract will provide the facility with a much faster turnaround time on test results and two new radiologists, Stubbs said.
“We’ll be able to get some results in hours or days,” Stubbs said. “Not weeks.”
The two new doctors, employed by Precision Radiology, will be at the facility for procedures like biopsies and stints, Stubbs said.
The large team of doctors working for Precision Radiology will allow Natchez Regional to have a greater variety of tests read, Stubbs said.
And a new interventional radiologist that will be at the facility on a rotating basis will give patients access to some medical procedures not available in Natchez.
“That means patients aren’t leaving town,” Buchanan said.
Since Precision Radiology bills patients or their insurance companies directly, there is no cost to the hospital for their services.
Stubbs said the hospital’s current computer software that will link Natchez Regional with Precision Radiology will need be updated to make information sharing between the two entities more efficient, but the software would have likely been updated regardless of Precision’s presence.
While Stubbs said he did not know the cost of upgrading the computer systems, he said he and others at the hospital are extremely pleased with the new partnership.
“It’s a big plus,” Stubbs said. “It’s great for the hospital and our patients.”
Natchez Regional previously contracted with local business Radiology Associates of Natchez.
Now that Natchez Regional is no longer contracted with Radiology Associates, the company’s workload has lessened, co-owner Dr. Raymond Brown said, but he’s OK with the change.
For more than 20 years Brown and his partner Dr. Fred Emrick have provided radiology services for the hospital.
“This gives us a chance to slow down,” Brown said. “It’s like being semi-retired.”
Brown and Emrick will still continue to provide radiology services to other healthcare facilities in the area.
Comments
Posted by mrmojorisin (anonymous) on September 18, 2009 at 9:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe I have this all wrong because I don't know that much about it, but why would a county hospital contract with workers in Lake Charles when they have two doctors...really good doctors from what I've heard, and I've known Fred Emrick since the second grade so I'm more likely to trust him than someone I don't know from Lake Charles....less than a mile away?
Does the Board of Supervisors or the Board of Aldermen have anything to do with the operation of the hospital? Do our tax dollars go to help support that hospital?
If so, why can't you stop stuff like this, guys?
I mean, Henry, how would you feel if the county was going to build a subdivision in Natchez, using county funds to pay for it and went to Texas for a contractor and home builder?
Jake, what if all the county owned and operated facilities chose to buy their paper products from an Alabama owned company?
I could understand if Fred Emrick and Ray Brown had attended a one week seminar in Las Vegas to learn how to look at x-rays...or they were trying to diagnose and perform medical practices they was neither board certified to perform nor licensed to practice. But they are both Board Certified, and their firm is one of the most highly respected radiology firms in the State.
I mean it's not like Fred is some internist trying to do gastroenterology or heart surgery............
...........maybe I'm wrong about this, but we have no one qualified in Natchez...with a hundred- plus doctors within 25 miles of Natchez....none of them are qualified to do angiograms or angioplasty, and we need to import someone from Lake Charles? I just can't believe that.
Well, I do know one thing, I will choose the doctors whom I will let read my radiology, perform my surgery, and I will choose to which hospital I will go because I pay for the services, and unless I'm unconscious, it will be my call...and even then, my wife knows my preferences.
Don't let yourself be bullied because the doctor you're seeing has an interest in one particular hospital or an interest in sending what could be life or death to you, to someone of his choosing for analysis...it is your life, you do the choosing.
Too much of the time we treat our physicians like we, unfortunately, treat our politicians, with a little too much awe and deference. They are basically body mechanics. They studied and learned how to check the oil and make educated guesses based on obvious symptoms gathered through years of empirical study, and personal experience to diagnose and treat our mechanical breakdowns. What's disturbing these days is that a lot of them have become businessmen first and doctors second.
I want a doctor who sees patients, who works within his specialty, and hones his knowledge to a point he is a master at that practice. In other words, I want a doctor who is deep in his chosen discipline like an ocean, not wide and shallow like a swamp..."a Jack of All Trades, Master of None."
--mojo
Posted by LOVESNATCHEZ (anonymous) on September 18, 2009 at 10:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
THANK YOU SO MUCH "MOJO".. WOULD YOU PLEASE SEND YOUR MESSAGE TO THE N.D. AS A TOP OF THE MORNING?
Posted by msmither27 (anonymous) on September 18, 2009 at 10:45 a.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by rt29 (anonymous) on September 18, 2009 at 10:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
well spoken, mojo, because i'm speechless as of now....i'll have to get my thoughts together on this subject because its such a slap in the face.
Posted by msmither27 (anonymous) on September 18, 2009 at 11:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
My last comment was not inappropriate and didn't deserve removal. There is a clear conflict of interest. Look at the Riverpark website and you will see it.
Posted by nosyrosy (anonymous) on September 18, 2009 at 12:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is why most people conduct their business elsewhere. Monkeys could do as well as most CEO'S, BOA, etc. around Natchez and for free to boot!!!
Posted by nosyrosy (anonymous) on September 18, 2009 at 12:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Also, mojo is on the money. Very well written comment.
Posted by Pluto (anonymous) on September 18, 2009 at 2:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
msmither27, what's the conflict?
Posted by msmither27 (anonymous) on September 18, 2009 at 2:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Pluto,
Let's just say there are individuals whom have a vested interest in Riverpark hospital. http://www.riverparkmedical.com/clinic.h...
Posted by JustAPerson (anonymous) on September 18, 2009 at 7:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I Dont understand the conflict of interest part. Can you explain please
Posted by JustAPerson (anonymous) on September 18, 2009 at 7:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Riverpark is a clinic not a hospital, and Promise is a LTAC not really a hospital. So I see no conflict.
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