he overwhelming challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic caused medical physics practices all over the world to pivot their management strategies or accelerate ones already in the works. Although the emergencies attending the pandemic may be subsiding, many practices rightfully have their eyes on the future and are hard at work determining what their company may look like for the future. In addition, the healthcare industry has reached a point where size and scale aren’t just “nice-to-haves” but must-haves. A report from Deloitte shows how health systems are rapidly consolidating—in late 2 ..read more

Any Apex Physics Partners employee will tell you that Apex is a great place to work with: no certification is needed. Still, it’s nice to have. Great Place to Work, a global authority on workplace culture and employee experience, awarded Apex Physics Partners a 2021 Great Place to Work Certification, and now we feel even more proud to come to work every day. What a Great Place to Work Certification Means Great Place to Work is on a mission to build a better world by helping organizations become great places to work. Since 1992, the organization has surveyed more than one hundred mill ..read more

No matter where you live in the United States, you’re bound to see dozens of “Now Hiring” signs in store windows all over your town. It’s no secret that the US is still amid a historic labor shortage, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reporting more than 11 million job openings in January 2022, nearly double the 6.4 million reported job openings in December 2019. Radiation oncology is no exception to this trend, though the reasons for the shortage and the challenges ahead are unique.  The Problem’s Scope  Radiation oncology plays a critical role in diagnosin ..read more

Cancer doesn’t sleep, but the United States has less than 7,000 qualified medical physicists serving oncology patients today. This means that if you’re running a radiation oncology unit or a cancer treatment center, you’re either a “have,” or a “have not.” Too many clinics are in danger of becoming “have nots” because they’re falling prey to a hidden financial cycle. As competition over qualified specialists drives salaries up, administrators are asking medical physicists to work overtime as a cost-cutting measure. This short-term strategy is a catastrophe in the long run. Short-Term Benefit ..read more

Like many health-care providers, we at Apex Physics Partners have been challenged to adapt flexibly to an evolving market in recent years. That makes our recognition as one of the 2022 Best Workplaces in Health Care by Fortune and Great Place to Work (GPTW) especially meaningful. We’re greatly honored that 91 percent of Apex employees said that our company is a great place to work—that’s thirty-four points higher than the national average! Focused on Improving the Employee Experience This is the second consecutive year that we’ve been named one of the Best Workplaces in Health Care, and we are ..read more

By Kristi Smith, Senior Medical Dosimetrist, Alyzen Medical Physics Many people outside of health care don’t know what dosimetry is. That’s a shame because it’s an important and rewarding profession. I’ve had the privilege of being a senior medical dosimetrist at Alyzen Medical Physics—now a partner practice of Apex Physics Partners—for almost twenty years, and I’d like to share a bit about what I do for anyone who might be interested in dosimetry. What Is Dosimetry? First, the basics. Medical dosimetry is a component of radiation oncology, a field of medicine that involves the use of ionizing ..read more

Living in the age of big data can be a blessing and a curse for medical physicists. The more data there is, the more physicists have to draw from when ensuring effective imaging that leads to accurate diagnoses. Without the right tools, however, too much data can be a burden, forcing medical physicists to spend long hours analyzing critical data.  The Journey of Quadrant Error-Prone Linear Accelerators An example of a data-heavy process is commissioning a linear accelerator, an essential radiation therapy tool that delivers high-energy electron or x-ray beams at tumors in cancer patients ..read more

No matter where you live in the United States, you’re bound to see dozens of “Now Hiring” signs in store windows all over your town. It’s no secret that the US is still amid a historic labor shortage, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reporting more than 11 million job openings in January 2022, nearly double the 6.4 million reported job openings in December 2019. Radiation oncology is no exception to this trend, though the reasons for the shortage and the challenges ahead are unique.  The Problem’s Scope  Radiation oncology plays a critical role in diagnosing and treating ..read more

The radiation safety officer (RSO) is an essential part of the functioning of a medical facility. However, we often find that clients and prospective clients lack a true understanding of the scope, responsibilities, and best practices related to the position. A medical facility must have a competent and engaged RSO on staff to help protect against regulatory scrutiny and liability. Fines of $100,000 and up have been levied against medical facilities for failures in radiation safety, and lawsuits can have a devastating effect on the business and morale of a medical facility. Most importantly, a ..read more

Habit 1: Develop a Team Approach to Radiation Safety To use a sports analogy, the RSO is the quarterback of a radiation safety team. But just like a quarterback, they need teammates to execute the plays, or in the case of an RSO, the radiation protection program. Senior management, administrators, physicians, nurses, technologists, and other support personnel are all involved in maintaining a high-quality radiation protection program, and the RSO must all work with them all to build a trusting relationship, as any team leader must. While Apex and Krueger-Gilbert encourage RSOs to make radiatio ..read more