Radiology Imaging AssociatesClient story

Seventeen locations on two different RIS. The project is to run one.

Radiology Imaging Associates reads more than 600,000 studies a year across 17 locations in Florida and the US Virgin Islands, on two separate RIS platforms and a stack of point solutions. This is the consolidation, and why a group that wants to be first in line picked the platform it did.

17 locationsFlorida and the USVI600,000+ studies a year
Matt Stephens
Director of Business Development,
Radiology Imaging Associates
Hear him tell it ↓
Jump to a chapter5 chapters
Practice profileMulti-site group, Florida and the US Virgin Islands
17
locations being brought onto one platform
600,000+
studies a year
2
separate RIS systems being consolidated
2024
when the partnership was announced
In their own words

A group that would rather be early than safe.

Matt Stephens runs business development, so the referral pipeline is his. Jon Houghton, the group’s CIO, owns the consolidation itself.

Why they chose it
“They offer something that a lot of systems don’t: very forward-thinking. And our company is very forward-thinking. So just for the technology and the security aspect, that was a big reason that pointed us towards AbbaDox.”
What growth demands
“It’s just really bringing in that technology that we need as a growing company. We need the technology to be able to keep up with us.”
Ordering, from the referrer’s side
“In some of the past systems that we’ve worked with, just for referring offices to go in and order online is a task. But with AbbaDox it’s very straightforward, to the point, and I think it’s going to clear up our fax lines.”
What they are aiming at
“We’re trying to be a forerunner in radiology. We’re not trying to stay behind and do what companies are currently doing or have done in the past.”
The problem, from the CIO
“Our journey towards modern patient engagement has been hindered by reliance on outdated systems requiring third-party add-ons, leading to operational bottlenecks and technological setbacks.”
What consolidation means
“The consolidation from two disparate RIS systems to a centralized AbbaDox platform marks a pivotal shift in our operational strategy. This move is not merely an upgrade but a transformation.”
17
locations coming onto
one platform
2
separate RIS systems
being replaced
600,000+
studies a year
across the group
01 · What two RIS systems cost you

Seventeen locations, and no single version of anything

Radiology Imaging Associates operates 17 locations across Florida and the US Virgin Islands and reads more than 600,000 studies a year. Until this project it ran that on two separate RIS platforms, with third-party add-ons filling the gaps each one left.

Jon Houghton, the group’s CIO, is direct about where that leads: a journey towards modern patient engagement held up by systems that needed bolting together, and the operational bottlenecks that follow. Two platforms means two ways to schedule, two sets of habits, two versions of what a referring office is asked to do, and no single place to see the group.

  • 17 locations, Florida and the US Virgin Islands
  • More than 600,000 studies a year
  • Two separate RIS platforms, plus point solutions
  • Third-party add-ons covering the gaps in each
02 · Why this platform

Chosen for the technology, and for the security

Matt Stephens is candid that the decision was not about price or feature counts. The group describes itself as forward-thinking and wanted a platform that was the same, something offering what a lot of systems do not. He names security in the same breath as the technology, which is not where most imaging groups start.

The second half of his reasoning is about pace rather than capability: a growing company needs technology that can keep up with it. And it needs to work the same way for everyone. His phrase is from registrars to technologists, everybody needs that streamlined workflow, in one cohesive system rather than several joined at the edges.

  • Forward-thinking technology, in their own words
  • Security named alongside capability
  • Technology that keeps pace with the group’s growth
  • One cohesive system from registrars to technologists
Why it matters
“This move is not merely an upgrade but a transformation, ensuring streamlined workflows, enhanced stability, and a future-proof foundation.”
Jon Houghton, CIO
Radiology Imaging Associates
03 · The part Matt Stephens owns

Make it easy for the referring office, or lose the order

Business development in radiology means referral relationships, so the referrer portal is the part of this he lives in. His complaint about previous systems is specific and, for anyone who has watched a referring office give up and reach for the fax machine, familiar: ordering online was a task. Not impossible. A task. Which is enough.

His expectation is that a straightforward online order does two things at once: it gets the order in cleanly, and it clears the fax lines that exist only because the alternative was worse. On the patient side, the same logic points at self-scheduling from the group’s own website, so the phone is not the only route in. He is careful to say this is where they are heading, not where they have arrived.

  • A referrer portal that does not punish the referring office
  • Online ordering described as straightforward, not merely possible
  • Fax lines cleared as a consequence, not a project
  • Patients scheduling themselves through the group’s website
  • Breast and lung health workflows, and AI follow-up recommendations, in scope
04 · Two companies growing at once

What they want from a vendor

Asked whether this is a vendor or a partner, Matt Stephens answers by describing both companies as growing at the same time, and treats that as the useful part: they can say what they need, and expect it to reach the roadmap rather than a support queue.

Worth noting where the introduction came from. The partnership release says RIA was inspired by Lake Medical Imaging’s implementation, another independent practice on this site, which cleared a 16,000-patient scheduling backlog. A reference from a peer is how most of these decisions actually get made.

  • Needs communicated to a roadmap, not a ticket queue
  • Both organizations scaling at the same time
  • The introduction came via another customer’s implementation
  • A consolidation still underway, by their own account

What the consolidation is for

17 → 1
Locations, and the number of platforms under them
Two RIS→one
What the group runs, before and after
600,000+
studies a year, on
one system
Online
ordering for referring offices, instead of fax
Self-serve
scheduling from the group’s own website

Running more than
one RIS?

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