Alex Pinto, Ed.D., MBA, Management Consultant
When Alex Pinto, Ed.D., MBA, talks about diagnostic imaging operations, the through-line is always the patient waiting for care. A management consultant with Clarify Health, Alex has spent his career helping health systems improve access, cut wait times and put data to work in their imaging departments. He was nominated for an In Focus feature by Kevin Ordway, CRA, executive director at Radiologic Associates of Middletown.
Alex is currently a management consultant with Clarify Health. He previously held positions with ECG Management Consultants, Guidehouse, GE HealthCare Partners and more.
From Sports Medicine to Imaging Operations
His career began in rehabilitation and sports medicine. Now, he is focused on improving imaging departments and patient care.
“Similar to many in the radiology space, I enjoyed the clinical aspects of patient care but wanted to improve how we delivered that care,” Alex recalls. “That led to management and then executive roles with health systems. Over time, I moved into the consulting space, bringing my clinical background mixed with operations expertise to support many organizations nationally and across a mix of service lines. Much of my focus lately has been in supporting access to care for diagnostic imaging services and driving improved analytics that support process improvement.”
Improving Access to Care and Cutting Wait Times
When asked about his greatest accomplishment, Alex points to improving access to care while reducing patient wait times.
“I’m very proud of my partnership with many health systems. By improving access to care, I truly believe we are improving healthcare outcomes. Timely care leads to better interventions and treatments, which leads to better outcomes,” he says. “Specific to imaging, I’m proud of work completed in partnership with a large health system in the Pacific Northwest, where our work decreased outpatient imaging wait times up to 13% while increasing the volume of delivered care by nearly 11%.”
Building the Business Case for Frontline Imaging Leaders
The work can be challenging and extremely rewarding, especially when it involves supporting talented technologists and improving patient care.
“It is incredibly rewarding to partner with frontline leaders and help them overcome logical barriers to improving care. Frontline imaging leaders know their business inside and out but are often challenged by executive leaders who either do not understand the business or are applying non-imaging benchmarks and standards to imaging departments,” Alex says. “By partnering with imaging leaders to demonstrate a strong business case through improvement and alternative benchmarking and analytics, we are able to improve the lives of patients and technologists.”
A Collaborative Leadership Style
Given his focus on improving patient access and outcomes, it is no surprise that his leadership style centers on teamwork.
“Collaboration is key – everyone on a team brings perspectives that will make a product better,” he explains. “I always seek to understand the root cause of a barrier. When a barrier exists, I want to understand what is needed to overcome that barrier then build a business case that supports that need. I believe leaders often default to ‘no’ rather than ask ‘why’ and ‘how.'”
AHRA Executive Director Jason Newmark describes Alex as a humble leader.
“Another attribute that I appreciate is that Alex works well with all levels of teams; frontline staff to clinical leaders and the C-suite; and people naturally trust him due to his personal approach and communication style,” Jason says. “What really stands out to me, though, is that he never looks for the spotlight; he consistently finds ways to recognize his colleagues and teams for their efforts and shared successes.”
“Alex is one of my favorite people to work with – inquisitive, smart, willing to be a little pushy (when he needs to be), fun and just someone who truly helps people make their operations and services better,” Jason says.
“He has a calm, steady presence, has developed a great sense for medical imaging best practices (specifically, with regard to access to services, workflow optimizations and patient experience). He also is very strong at helping organizations identify the most impactful performance metrics to measure and monitor and to then help develop and implement dashboards to assist in active tracking. Data is key for Alex!” Jason adds.
Alex also believes in the power of mentorship and states that he has benefitted from, “too many to count. And I’m grateful to all of them.”
“When I reflect on periods of success in my career, I can always point to a mentor being close by during my periods of true career growth. My advice to anyone looking to grow their career is to identify their mentor and if they cannot evaluate if you’re in the right role,” Alex says.
Where AI Is Taking Diagnostic Imaging
Looking ahead, Alex believes artificial intelligence and diagnostic imaging will continue to transform healthcare.
“No industry is realizing more from AI than radiology, especially on the clinical front. But I believe AI is going to dramatically improve how diagnostic imaging services operate,” he says. “We are already seeing some EHRs and third-party tools support dynamic, AI-driven template management, offering real-time changes to appointment inventory based on what is scheduled or canceled. These tools will help us optimize all of our resources – staff, physicians and machines, to make best use of scarce resources.”
Get to Know Alex
When not at work, Alex stresses collaboration and teamwork in his personal life. When asked about his family, he says, “My wife, AmyBeth, who has a career as an accountant that is as challenging as my own. We balance our careers against raising our two elementary-aged daughters, Amelia and Adrienne.”
Favorite sports team? My alma mater – Utah Utes!
Last show or series you binge-watched? “Silo”
One thing most co-workers don’t know about you? I went to college on a scholarship for (male) cheerleading.
What is your hobby? Horseback riding – English hunter/jump. My daughters and I share in this sport.
One thing you do every morning to start your day right? A second cup of coffee
What is the best advice you ever received? Don’t leave something for someone else, if you’re capable of doing it yourself.
If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Infinite/precise memory
What is the perfect meal? My mother’s Thanksgiving dinner cooked her way – turkey and all the fixings.
From the clinic floor to the consulting room, Alex Pinto has built a career on a simple conviction: better diagnostic imaging operations mean better care for patients. Whether he’s trimming wait times, reframing the benchmarks executives apply to imaging or standing up the dashboards that make performance visible, his focus stays on the people on the other end of the data, technologists and patients alike.
In Focus Nomination
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