A Medical Device Daily

Outpatient Imaging Affiliates (OIA; Nashville, Tennessee) said it has formed a joint venture with North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Services (both Winston-Salem, North Carolina) to own and operate Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Outpatient Imaging (WFBI), a new outpatient diagnostic imaging center.

WFBI is scheduled to open today to better serve patients and referring physicians in the greater Winston-Salem area, OIA said. The center will offer MRI, CT, digital mammography, ultrasound, bone densitometry and general X-ray services. Radiology interpretive services will be provided by the radiology department of Wake Forest University Health Sciences. OIA provided development services and will manage and provide billing and collection services for the center.

"The hospital has always done an exceptional job taking care of patients," said Allen Elster, MD, chairman of the department of radiology. "The imaging center extends the hospital's extensive services platform by addressing patients' and referring physicians' demands for more patient -friendly locations."

OIA partners with healthcare providers, including academic teaching hospitals, hospital medical centers, and local radiology practices, to develop strategies designed to recapture market share on behalf of its partners.

"Changing dynamics in the radiology industry have left hospitals and academic institutions well positioned to recapture market share previously lost to competitive entities," OIA CEO Frank Kyle said. "OIA serves as a strategic and operational catalyst to this process. Combining the established reputations of its partners with OIA's proven management and marketing expertise, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Outpatient Imaging's mission is to become a market leader in the delivery of quality, cost-effective, service-driven outpatient diagnostic imaging services in Winston-Salem for many years to come."