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Premier Radiation Oncologists Partner With Veteran Healthcare Management Team To Launch New Outpatient Services Company

Posted on: Monday, 6 November 2006, 12:01 CST

PHILADELPHIA and NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading regional radiation oncologists are partnering with seasoned ambulatory care executives in the formation of a new national clinical enterprise focused on the delivery of outpatient radiation oncology services.

With financial partnership from MedCare Investment Fund III, Ltd. and a leadership team with proven ambulatory services management experience, Radiation Oncology Services of America (ROSA) will utilize an innovative, physician-oriented business model to create a national network of outpatient radiation oncology centers.

The formation of the company was announced today at the annual conference of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiation and Oncology in Philadelphia, and from the company's corporate headquarters in Nashville, Tenn.

ROSA's founding partners include physicians associated with two premier providers of radiation oncology services located in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. All of the founding ROSA centers offer state-of-the art services including intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) and high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy.

Atlanta Oncology Associates (AOA) own eight treatment centers located throughout the Metropolitan Atlanta area, Georgia and the Florida panhandle. Four AOA facilities are affiliated with the Georgia Center for Total Cancer Care, the largest private oncology/hematology practice in the Southeast and a national leader in advanced cancer treatment and research.

"Partnership with ROSA offers us a unique opportunity to be part of the development of a clinical legacy," said AOA President and Chief Executive Officer Dale McCord, M.D. "By focusing on providing quality outcomes driven by evidenced-based care, ROSA will share the knowledge and best practices of leaders in the radiation oncology field across a national network of physician providers. We will raise the bar for everyone."

William D. Permenter, M.D., founder and medical director for Cancer Care Centers in the West Tennessee communities of Jackson, Dyersburg and Paris, is also a ROSA founding partner.

"I look forward to working with my colleagues to develop a patient-focused national clinical enterprise designed to deliver the highest quality of care in the industry," said Dr. Permenter. "Through insight and a vision for future development in our rapidly changing field, we will be forging a very unique network."

Collectively, these providers represent 11 radiation treatment facilities and 18 radiation oncologists.

The U.S. radiation therapy market -- estimated at $7 billion a year -- is a highly unconsolidated industry. With approximately 2,000 freestanding or hospital-based centers offering radiation therapy, no single company currently owns more than five percent of the country's radiation centers; the three largest providers combined account for less than 10 percent of the total market.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in United States, with 1.4 million new cases expected to be diagnosed this year. Approximately 60 percent of cancer patients are treated with radiation therapy.

ROSA's management team brings a wealth of experience and a record of success in ambulatory healthcare services. ROSA co-founder, President and CEO Tim Martin was chief operating officer of Renal Care Group, a successful physician-oriented dialysis services company that was acquired earlier this year by the German company Fresenius for $3.5 billion.

"I am very pleased that several of my colleagues from Renal Care have joined me in this exciting new venture," said Martin. "Focusing on evidence- based care and quality outcomes -- which are best achieved in partnership with dedicated physicians -- is a model that worked for Renal Care and will work here as well."

Dennis E. Hallahan, M.D., is co-founder and senior medical advisor for ROSA. Dr. Hallahan is the Ingram Professor of Cancer Research and chairman of the radiation oncology department at Vanderbilt University. An esteemed physician and researcher, he serves on many national boards including the National Institutes of Health Study Section for Radiation Biology and Therapeutics.

The ROSA board of directors is chaired by Harry Jacobson, M.D., co-founder of Renal Care Group and vice chancellor for health affairs at Vanderbilt University.

Radiation Oncology Services of America, Inc. was founded on the premise that radiation oncologists are in the best position to oversee the delivery of radiation oncology care in this country. ROSA's physician joint venture model preserves the control of medical practice in the hands of radiation oncologists, and complements the relationship with the resources and experience of a proven, physician-partnered management team. To learn more about ROSA, please visit our website at http://www.rosaoncology.com/.

Radiation Oncology Services of America

CONTACT: During ASTRO, Greg Merrill of Radiation Oncology Services ofAmerica, +1-615-423-8787; or Corporate, Rosemary Plorin of LovellCommunications, +1-615-297-7766, for Radiation Oncology Services of America

Web site: http://www.rosaoncology.com/http://www.astro.org/annual_meeting/index.htm

Source: PRNewswire

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