We are totally caught up. We have no backlog.

Iowa Radiology was founded in 2001 and runs four outpatient imaging clinics in Iowa, offering MRI, CT, PET/CT, ultrasound, women's imaging and X-ray. It is designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology. In November 2025 its executive director, Mendy Christensen, and its chief information officer, Michael Riesberg, told the story of their first months on Gravity in a webinar with us.

The backlog

In December 2024 Iowa Radiology moved to a new RIS. The connection to the prior authorization software it had used for years didn't come across, and the practice planned to do the work inside the new RIS instead. That took months to arrive and didn't do the job, and by then the backlog was months deep.

Two prior authorization specialists serve all of the practice's high-tech imaging. With the automation gone, they were back on the phone and logging into payer portals one order at a time, and the practice was at least two weeks behind on orders at any given time.

"It became less of a discussion and more of an emergency. We have to change something and do it now."

Mendy Christensen, RT(R), Executive Director, Iowa Radiology

Live in days

Iowa Radiology's IT team built the interfaces quickly, and once they were in place the practice was ready to go in days. Our team worked authorizations alongside Iowa Radiology's specialists and their clinic supervisor, through the night and over a weekend, until the backlog was under control. The specialists had what they needed to do the basics on day one and learned the rest as they went.

"The implementation saved our practice significant time and money. What was truly remarkable was the speed; we were up and running in days rather than the months we would typically expect from a project of this scale."

Michael Riesberg, Chief Information Officer, Iowa Radiology

"They immediately took us to the front of the line and made this a priority."

Michael Riesberg, Chief Information Officer, Iowa Radiology

Gone by day four

On day one the team counted about 430 orders waiting on two lists. By day three or four, the backlog was gone. Within about four weeks the practice had cleared it and kept pace with every new order coming in. On a normal day now, 40 or 50 orders are waiting for authorization, and they go through as part of the day's work.

"Within just a matter of maybe four weeks, we took a huge backlog and were able to also incorporate all of the orders still incoming. We are totally caught up. We have no backlog."

Mendy Christensen, RT(R), Executive Director, Iowa Radiology

Today

Iowa Radiology has been fully live since the end of June 2025. Gravity handles at least 80% of its authorizations. The specialists keep a handful of payers by hand, where the process takes as long either way. Clinicals from the practice's biggest referring partners sit in their Epic system, which Iowa Radiology can't pull from directly, so Gravity built an automation that lets the team bring a link across from Epic.

The practice didn't add anyone. Before Gravity, it was about to ask for budget to hire more staff for prior authorization. Now the specialists see no need for anyone else.

"Now these girls come out of their little caves and they have time to be with their co-workers and they're laughing, and that dark cloud has lifted from them."

Mendy Christensen, RT(R), Executive Director, Iowa Radiology

What it means for the practice

With no orders waiting on authorization, patients get to the table sooner. Three of Iowa Radiology's four clinics are now reaching capacity in every modality, and when the practice is booking two weeks out, it knows that is real demand rather than authorizations it can't get. Referring physicians see the difference too, and the team that once couldn't take on more work now welcomes it.

"The speed at which we can provide service to our customers is that brand loyalty that's almost intangible."

Michael Riesberg, Chief Information Officer, Iowa Radiology

Watch the webinar with Iowa Radiology