Why radiology groups qualify
The four-part testNew to your group counts
A reading tool or protocol only has to be new to your group to count. It does not need to be new to the specialty.
Every new tool brings unknowns
Does the algorithm flag the right region at the right depth? Nobody knows until your readers put it against real studies. Finding out is qualified work.
Discordance tracking is experimentation
Comparing a tool’s score with the assessment category on every read, and acting on the mismatches, is a process of experimentation.
The science is already there
Your reads rest on biological science and the tools on computer science. For radiology groups, the science test is the easy part.
A short study shows where your group qualifies, and proves it. Read the four-part test in the words of the statute.
What qualifies in practice
Work you already bill for- AI-assisted read validationRunning a second-read tool alongside your radiologists and documenting where its score disagrees with the assessment is qualified testing.
- Reading protocols for new capture methodsDeciding how to read a reconstructed automated ultrasound set, and when to recall, is protocol development.
- Comparison-prior workflowsBuilding the process that puts years of outside priors in front of a reader or a tool for change detection is qualified work.
- Handheld versus automatedTesting which regions read better by hand than by automated capture, and changing the protocol, is experimentation with a record.
- Reader-level outcome analyticsRecall rates, true positives, and true negatives tracked by radiologist are the evidence that a protocol change worked.
- Vendor beta programsBeing the group that tests a vendor’s next release, and feeding back what breaks, is a documented process of experimentation.
- Algorithm revalidationA vendor reconfigures the algorithm and your data set has to be re-read against it. Each revalidation is a new round.
- Cloud reading platform migrationMoving reads onto a cloud imaging platform and proving it performs under your volume is qualified systems work.
Where the credit comes from
The expenses that countRadiologist wages
The time your radiologists spend reading with a new tool, scoring it, and revising protocols is the largest piece for most groups.
Technologists and IT
Staff who run the capture protocol and the systems behind it count for the share of their time on qualified work.
Vendors and computing
A share of custom integration fees, and the hosting and retention fees paid during evaluation, count as well.
What does not count
Routine reads, settled protocols, and administration stay out. The study draws that line honestly.
Common questions
Isn’t the AI tool the vendor’s research, not ours?
The product is theirs. Whether it works on your studies, against your readers, at your sites is a question only your group can answer, and answering it is your research.
Our radiologists do not keep timesheets. Can their time count?
Yes. The study builds reasonable estimates from interviews and from the protocol and outcome records the group already keeps.
The normal read still happens. Does reading with the tool count on top of it?
The added work counts: scoring the tool, investigating discordance, and revising the protocol. The routine interpretation itself does not.
We declined formal clinical trials. Does that hurt us?
No. The credit does not require a registered trial. Your own evaluation of a tool or protocol, with a record of what changed, is what qualifies.
Does our peer review and QA data count as documentation?
It is some of the best documentation there is. Outcome tracking by reader and by site shows the experiment and its result.
Which people count?
Radiologists who read with and score the tool, technologists who run the protocol, and IT staff who stand up the systems, each for the share of time spent on the qualified work.
Our group reads for several sites in different states. Does that matter?
State credits differ, and the study checks each one. Where the work happened decides which state rules apply.
How far back can we claim?
Up to three prior tax years, by amended return. Credits you never claimed are still there to collect.
What happens if the return is examined?
The people who wrote the study answer for it. Audit defense is included in every study at no added cost.
Which form does the credit go on?
Form 6765, filed with the return. From there it carries onto Form 3800 as part of the general business credit. The Form 6765 guide and the Form 3800 guide walk a CPA through both.
Thirty minutes shows whether you qualify.
Book a call and bring the person who knows the work. We will cover whether your projects qualify and what a credit could be worth.
Book a call Or write to inquiries@thefoundryfirm.com