As management consultancy has developed to become big business, the profession does have lessons for radiologists, according to an article in the Journal of the American College of Radiology. And the thorough performance reviews and high value professional development available to management consultants should be top of the list, they argue.

Alexander Misono, MD, from the Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues who have themselves been previously associated with major management consultancies,  outline 4 lessons for radiologists.

1. Know Your Clients and What They Need
Like management consultants, radiologists need to be “on speed dial” with their referring clinicians, to be trusted advisers not simply providing high-quality imaging services.

2. Adapt and Invest in Growth Intelligently
Management consulting firms have evolved with the needs of their clients - from providing analytics, to being embedded with client teams and deepening core client relationships.

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Likewise radiologists have reinvented themselves as technological advances take place. The authors suggest radiologists should immediately adopt what referring clinicians request, whether that is new new imaging techniques, enriched reporting or radiologic-pathologic correlation.

3. Understand and Optimise Your Core Assets
Like radiology departments, management consultancies recognise that people are their core asset, and aim to recruit the right people for the job, and provide professional development and robust performance reviews. “Radiology organizations would likely
benefit from a more robust perspective on professional development, covering not only clinical and technical aspects of radiology but additional factors such as communication,
team effectiveness, interaction with clinicians, and mentorship”, the authors argue.

4. Win
Not all management consultancy groups have survived, and in the U.S. not all radiology groups will survive the move to value-based imaging. Misono and his colleagues suggest that “the best radiology groups will likely go the way of the top consulting firms, turning into indispensable consultants and, thereafter, market leaders.”

“To succeed, radiologists, as have consultants, must leverage their flexibility and successes to become indispensable to clinicians in all areas of the hospital.

Image credit: Pixabay

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References:

Misono AS, Prabhakar AM, Liu RW et al. (2016) What radiology can learn from the management consulting industry. J Am Coll Radiol, 13(2):222-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2015.09.023.



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Radiology, Management Consultancy What radiology can learn from management consultancy: know your clients and what they need, adapt and invest in growth, understand and optimise core assets, and win.