The Industry
Radiology practices are an integral part of the New Zealand health sector. Whilst some services are provided as part of the publicly funded and provided public hospital service, private practices such as Wakefield Radiology offer services to patients who choose to avoid queues by paying for more timely services or to access the services of a preferred radiographer or radiologist (this element of choice is not offered to patients in the public system). Patients pay for the use of private services, either personally or via entitlements from insurance schemes such as Southern Cross and Accident Compensation. Private practice sizes vary throughout New Zealand, from small, one-site practices to large, multi-site ones. Wakefield Radiology is one of the largest, both in the number of sites and the geographic spread of the sites. It competes with two other radiology practices in the greater Wellington area, and is the only one operating out of multiple sites.
Private radiology practices in New Zealand are competing both with each other and with the public health system. As a group, private practices strive to differentiate themselves from the public sector on the quality of service provided. This hinges principally around the speed with which they can both take the patient's images and deliver the reports to the referring practitioner. Within the private sector, radiology practices can further differentiate themselves by the range of services they provide, the locations from which they offer services, and the price charged. Whilst relationships with patients are important, maintaining relationships with the health practitioners who refer clients is also important, as patients, at an information disadvantage about the availability and quality of services, typically rely upon their practitioners' recommendations when imaging is required. Technologies provide one basis upon which these differences can be built.
A particularly important development in radiology practices has been the growth in use of digital imaging. Technological advances have enabled the substitution of film-based images with digital ones. This development has shortened the time required to undertake some procedures (e.g. the patient does not have to wait for the film to be developed, with associated retaking of the image if there is a flaw in the development process) and has made the business case for multi-site practices significantly more feasible, as digital transfer of the image to a central pool of radiologists for analysis is faster, more cost-effective and more reliable than transfer of paper or film.
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