Clinical practice of interventional and cardiovascular radiology: current status, guidelines for resource allocation, future directions.

Overview

The practices of interventional radiology and interventional neuroradiology are centered on high-quality direct patient care. These subspecialties have long histories of innovative care that has often revolutionized the treatment of disease and illness. More recently, however, this success has brought about competition from former referring physicians as they have gained access to technology and training that will enable them to obtain credentials for procedures that were formerly in the exclusive domain of interventionalists. Unfortunately, many interventional radiologists find themselves ill-equipped to compete for referrals. This is primarily because many interventional radiology practices lack complete clinical practices, which are critically important in facilitating referrals from the nonspecialists. Accordingly, this document details the critical importance of a complete clinical practice and further outlines the steps required to achieve this goal.