MSU Health Care and Advanced Radiology Services, P.C., have formed a joint venture to provide exclusive reading services for MRI's and other medical imaging to McLaren Greater Lansing, including the new McLaren Hospital.
The joint venture will form a new for-profit, limited-liability company named Spartan Radiology. MSU Health Care and ARS will each control 50% of the new company.
“The joint venture with ARS is another important step in MSU’s journey to become a national model for quality, safety and innovation in health care,” Interim President Satish Udpa said. “Joint ventures like this will help revolutionize how health care is delivered to the local community and beyond.”
“We are dedicated to continuously improving the quality of our subspecialty interpretations and our clinical programs and embrace a longstanding academic and educational mission,” said Brian Fedeson, president of ARS. “Our radiologists produce university-level research and interface with students from three medical schools and numerous radiology and non-radiology residency training programs. We feel that MSU and ARS complement each other’s strengths and this partnership will allow Spartan Radiology to improve the health of every patient and institution we serve.”
Together, MSU and ARS will improve the delivery of health care to the greater Lansing community, said Norman Beauchamp Jr., associate provost and assistant vice president of health affairs for MSU, and chair of MSU Health Care.
“ARS is a premier resource for advancement in radiology and together, we will create an innovation ecosystem,” Beauchamp said. “We will improve health care by innovating and being agile, by encouraging scientific research and disseminating these ideas to help patients."
Each year, the joint venture will set aside funds to support research and radiology-related education.
“Many ARS radiologists are eager to conduct more research and spend additional time teaching. These activities benefit the entire medical community and Spartan Radiology will provide the perfect venue,” said Rita Westphal, ARS chief administrative officer and the chief executive officer of STARS, a wholly owned subsidiary of ARS.
“Through great synergy we have developed a world-class radiology department here at MSU that excels in clinical, educational and research efforts all focused upon improving the health of the patients we serve,” said Andrea Amalfitano, dean of the MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine. “MSU’s multiple strengths will now also serve as a foundational element alongside the ARS group in creating Spartan Radiology. This will be an outstanding next-generation effort to provide cutting-edge radiology services for our region.”
“We created MSU Health Care so we can partner with health-related entities like ARS to easily foster high-quality, cost-efficient clinical services and increase research opportunities,” Beauchamp said.
In August 2018, the MSU Board of Trustees approved creating MSU Health Care to replace the MSU HealthTeam. As a separate nonprofit organization, MSU Health Care can form joint ventures with a broader set of other health care entities. It partners with health systems throughout Michigan. Spartan Radiology is the inaugural joint venture of the 501(c)(3) corporation.