10 Questions with Geraldine McGinty, MD, MBA

Our "10 Questions" series asks the same questions to a diverse group of professionals in the medical imaging community.

Here, we profiled Geraldine McGinty, MD, MBA.

1. Please state your name, title and the organization you work for.

Geraldine McGinty
Weill Cornell Medical College Department of Radiology
Chair, ACR Commission on Economics 

2. How did you get where you are today?

I went to medical school in the west of Ireland and came to the U.S. for residency at the University of Pittsburgh in 1989. After a women’s imaging fellowship at Mass General, I began my career by setting up an outpatient imaging network for Montefiore Medical Center. During my time at Monte, I got an MBA from Columbia and then joined a large private practice group on Long Island. I spent 11 years there, becoming managing partner and doubling the size of the group. This year, I joined the faculty at Weill Cornell Medical College where I combine a clinical and business development role.

3. Why did you choose your profession?

I loved anatomy in my first year of medical school. Then I spent a summer working as a nurse’s aide on a surgical floor. I often had to take patients to radiology and I saw that the “answers” so often came from the imaging test. I chose breast imaging because I love interacting with patients and enjoy doing procedures.

4. What is your biggest day-to-day challenge?

Finding time for all the things I want to do! I have a huge responsibility as ACR Economics Commission Chair to not only protect and preserve fair reimbursement for the valuable services radiologists provide but also to ensure that radiologists can participate in and benefit from new value-based payment models. But when I am on a clinical day, my patients need my focus so I need to tune out the rest of my world to ensure that I am giving them 100%.

5. What worries, if any, do you have about the future of radiology? If none, where do you think the field is going?

I am concerned that the focus on productivity that we call “Imaging 2.0” has removed us from our patients and colleagues and made it challenging for us to demonstrate the value we deliver. This has contributed to threats of commoditization. I’m optimistic, though, that our Imaging 3.0 campaign is helping us highlight the role we play in high value care and that this will be a roadmap for our future.

6. What one thing would make your job better?

As much as I love the technology that I use every day, it would be so great if I did not have to log in to multiple systems and switch between them as I do my work. My fantasy would be a totally interconnected system that would use something like a retina scan to log me in and would contain all the information I needed in a logical and visually appealing platform. That said, since I began my career with film and a tape recorder I am grateful for what we have![[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_crop","fid":"29736","attributes":{"alt":"Geraldine McGinty, MD, MBA","class":"media-image media-image-right","id":"media_crop_3354319950462","media_crop_h":"0","media_crop_image_style":"-1","media_crop_instance":"3100","media_crop_rotate":"0","media_crop_scale_h":"0","media_crop_scale_w":"0","media_crop_w":"0","media_crop_x":"0","media_crop_y":"0","style":"height: 241px; width: 160px; border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; margin: 1px; float: right;","title":"Geraldine McGinty, MD, MBA","typeof":"foaf:Image"}}]]

7. What is your favorite thing about radiology?

The iterative process of taking the imaging information, integrating it with the history, and developing a conclusion that can impact patient care.

8. What is your least favorite thing about radiology?

It’s hard to see some of the negative external perceptions about radiologists when I know the value we contribute. But that just makes me want to work harder to dispel those myths and make sure our value is clear.

9. What is the field’s biggest obstacle?

I think we are challenged by the fact that our patients have not really regarded us as one of their doctors.

10. If you could give the radiology industry one piece of advice, what would it be?

I’m quoting our Will Cornell Dean, Laurie Glimcher: “put the patient at the center of everything you do.”

Is there someone in the imaging community that you want to hear from? E-mail us their name and we'll ask them 10 questions.

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