Longtime Spokane-based radiology practice Inland Imaging PS and Tri-Cities, Wash.-based Columbia Basin Imaging PC, have agreed to merge practices, says Inland Imaging CEO Steve Duvoisin.

The merger will be effective next fall, and the larger practice then will operate under the Inland Imaging name, Duvoisin says.

The combined group will include nearly 90 radiologists, making it one of the largest radiology practices in the western U.S., he contends. Inland Imaging currently has nearly 80 radiologists, he says.

The greater scale of the expanded practice will make the resources of the combined group more efficient and cost effective, Duvoisin asserts, adding the merger also will help the new group maintain its independent, patient-centered focus.

Inland Imaging has been operating in Spokane since 1930. Its radiologists serve outpatient imaging centers, urban and rural hospitals, medical clinics, and private practices in Eastern and Central Washington; North Idaho; and western Montana.

Inland Imaging's radiologists also own Spokane-based Inland Imaging Business Associates LLC, which provides radiology business and information technology services to clients throughout the Pacific Northwest.

CBI, also a private practice, has provided radiology services at Richland, Wash.-based Kadlec Regional Medical Center for more than 30 years.

The merger will promote integration of services on the Kadlec campus by combining interventional and diagnostic services within the new group, as Kadlec's current interventional service providers also will become part of the Inland Imaging group, Duvoisin says.

Discussions about the potential for combining practices have been ongoing for a couple of years, but started moving forward several months ago, when Kadlec selected the Inland Picture Archiving & Communications System to replace its older system, he says.