What is your radiologist assistant student worth to you?

PURPOSE: To associate a monetary value with the productivity of a radiologist assistant (RA) student during the educational process, as a predictor of the potential impact on radiology practices acting as preceptors to RA students.

METHODS: Eight RA students' productivity was analyzed using preexisting data composed of a list of examinations completed as part of the educational process. The Institutional Review Board at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences classified this study as exempt. The data were correlated with current Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reimbursement rates. Analyses included descriptive statistical tests for the sum of the amount of potential reimbursement calculated for each student and the mean and median for the study sample. The results conservatively predict the productivity of an RA student.

RESULTS: The average number of procedures performed by the RA students was 581 during the minimum of 1,500 clinical internship hours. The average potential professional fee reimbursement for the procedures performed by the RA students during the educational process was $58,957.

CONCLUSIONS: Unless radiology practices increase their capacity to handle larger volumes of examinations, the risk of losing business to others is likely to persist. By performing varying radiologic procedures, RAs can help address workforce shortages in radiology. Radiologist assistants enable radiologists to increase practice productivity by lessening the burden placed on radiologists, which permits radiologists to spend more time on image interpretations. The potential reimbursement produced by RA students is worth the time and effort invested by radiologists during the educational process.