Access to Interventional Radiology Services in Small Hospitals and Rural Communities: An ACR Membership Intercommission Survey

Purpose To evaluate the status of interventional radiology (IR) staffing, recruitment, and retention in the United States, specifically as they apply to small hospitals and rural communities. Materials and Methods A 22-question survey was created by an ACR intercommission workgroup and circulated via e-mail to ACR members who self-identified as a “group practice leader,” “general radiologist,” “interventional radiologist,” or “abdominal radiologist.” Contingency tables were constructed, and bivariate analyses were performed to assess overall responses and the distribution of responses among specific groups of respondents. Results A total of 1,005 e-mail recipients completed the survey. A statistically significant greater proportion of responders from rural hospitals (versus nonrural hospitals) answered that (1) their group falls short or far short of meeting demand for IR services (29.1% versus 14.3%), (2) they had difficulty recruiting IR physicians to their practice (67% versus 40.6%), and (3) they had difficulty retaining IR physicians (40% versus 29%). The most frequently reported reasons for difficulty recruiting were that IR-trained physicians “do not want to do diagnostic work” (56.2%) and “do not want to practice in a small or rural setting” (48.8%). A greater proportion of respondents from rural hospitals perceived that they had difficulty retaining IR physicians because of perceived inadequate “complexity of case mix” (67.5%) or “number of cases” (66.1%). Conclusion Small hospitals and rural communities experience greater difficulty recruiting and retaining IR physicians and meeting IR service demands compared with their nonrural counterparts.