Feasibility and Value of Adding Fluoroscopic Examinations to an Academic Hospital Affiliated Outpatient Imaging Center

Abstract

Nebraska Medicine has been serving patients from every state in the country as well as 47 countries worldwide since the founding of Clarkson Hospital in 1869. With its main academic campus deeply rooted in the heart of midtown Omaha, Nebraska, Nebraska Medicine has strategically expanded their service region to include a second hospital in Bellevue, Nebraska, multiple primary care clinics located throughout the metropolitan area, and a robust outpatient facility in the Village Pointe area of west Omaha. Located within the outpatient center is an outpatient imaging department equipped with the most up to date imaging equipment. This business plan discusses the feasibility of the addition of an outpatient fluoroscopy service line within this imaging department. The expansion of this service line is assessed through a detailed external and internal environmental scan, market analysis with the identification of the target market, risk assessment, competition analysis, and financial evaluation. Multiple internal strengths and external threats are identified and addressed. The development of a marketing strategy is also discussed. The financial analysis reveals that the significant startup cost lends itself to the potential of financial loss for the first year of operation while the department is not operating at full capacity. It is expected that with a vigorous marketing campaign a new patient population will be captured, and existing patients may be attracted to the convenient outpatient location. The new patients entering the Nebraska Medicine network through referrals to this department could feed into the stream of referrals for other specialty service lines throughout the organization. The qualitative value of this service line cannot be understated while evaluating the financial impact this expansion will have throughout the organization.