State-of-the-art equipment.

Medical imaging technology is always improving and having the latest equipment is an advantage that Rad X is keen to leverage. Not only are government Medicare rebates only paid to radiology practices that use equipment that is relatively new – usually with a 10-year age limit – but newer devices also produce the highest quality scans.

One piece of market-leading equipment at Rad X is a Siemens MRI software package – Deep Resolve. This AI-powered image-reconstruction technology is a game-changer in MRI. It uses targeted denoising (the process of removing noise or unwanted distortions from an image) and deep-learning methods to generate sharper images faster than ever. This, in turn, is a win both for patient comfort and practice efficiency.

Though the $100,000 price tag formed only a small percentage of Rad X’s $7.2 million set-up cost, the decision to buy this piece of equipment three months after opening was not made lightly.

Finance for the new space came from BOQ Specialist, led by Finance Specialist, Melinda Goddard. Having previously worked with the BOQ Specialist team to launch his radiology practice in 2017, Dr Berera felt comfortable working with the team again, this time on a considerably larger project.

‘BOQ Specialist has supported us with financing for both the building fit-out and for the equipment we purchased,’ says Dr Berera. ‘The team were excellent to work with and were readily available, with multiple emails and calls between us each week in the six to nine months prior to opening.’

Melinda reveals the Rad X site was formerly a Blockbuster video store. ‘If you think about how big those spaces were, with the bright blue, gaudy furnishings, Vinnie and Katie completely changed it.’

Setting up such a huge space did present some challenges. ‘A lot of work went into it because of the sheer number of suppliers,’ says Melinda. ‘We would have funded more than 100 invoices for builders, IT, equipment – you name it.’

Dr Berera says the BOQ Specialist team paid for orders directly or reimbursed the practice for any new equipment acquisitions. ‘Close to opening, we decided to purchase an extra ultrasound machine, and they were able to quickly authorise that order for us so that there was no delay, and the machine arrived when we needed it,’ he adds.

Putting patients first.

In keeping with its commitment to deliver optimal patient care, the Rad X team has partnered with a software developer to introduce voice AI technology to phone bookings. This is integrated with the practice’s radiology-management software, which also allows online bookings.

‘We were very keen for our patients to be able to book online,’ says Dr Daniels. ‘As busy working people ourselves, we understand the convenience of being able to book appointments out of normal working hours.’

The voice AI option is available for phone bookings 24 hours a day and has been well received by patients. ‘It has also taken pressure off our reception staff, who can devote more time to the patients in the clinic, while still being available for complicated bookings or for patients who elect not to use the AI,’ says Dr Daniels.

Seeking to streamline processes further, Rad X uses a software program that sends patients their medical images as soon as their study has been done, and then their radiology report seven days later.

But what really sets the practice apart is its billing policy, Dr Daniels explains. ‘While we bulk-bill CT and X-ray studies, like our competitors, we charge slightly higher gaps [out-of-pocket fees] for ultrasound, image-guided injections and MRI scans.

‘We did this not only because we knew that we would be providing the best patient experience and level of care, but also because these are the studies that have poor appointment availability locally, with waiting times of multiple weeks, and we had hopes that the higher gaps might allow us to match availability better to demand.’

Their plan has paid off. Within two months of opening the practice, most MRI appointments were being filled each day. This led the team to trial a software upgrade for its MRI equipment. ‘We quickly realised we would almost be able to pay for the $90,000 update by the increased productivity we were able to achieve during the trial period,’ says Dr Berera. ‘Patients found the shorter scan times far easier to manage and the image quality was noticeably improved.’

Preparing for the future.

For now, Dr Berera and Dr Daniels have no plans to expand their business, with the current range of imaging equipment, number of staff, and appointment slots well matched to two full-time radiologists. Yet, with demand for their services likely to grow, they acknowledge that patients may not always be able to book appointments on short notice.

‘We are working to ensure we can always accommodate urgent requests from our loyal referrers, and we are yet to see whether our differential billing policy will result in our availability remaining significantly different from our cheaper competitors,’ says Dr Berera.

In the meantime, the team will continue its efforts to offer expert services while remaining focused on patient-centric care.

A collaborative effort.

BOQ Specialist banker Melinda Goddard says the $7.2 million Rad X project called for cooperation between four key groups: BOQ’s commercial lending, private lending and credit teams, as well as the client.

‘When Katie and Vinnie approached us, we engaged our private lending colleagues and credit team, who assisted us in coming up with a plan on the best way to fund this large project and the type of security required for a project of this size,’ she says. ‘It took the collaboration of three teams in the bank to facilitate the funding.’

Interestingly, the credit officer who approved the facility (and specialises in radiology) had also worked with Dr Berera in 2017 when BOQ Specialist funded his first practice. Melinda says, ‘Vinnie obviously had a great experience, because he came back to BOQS to do it all again.’