Dr. Howard Berger on CNBC's Mad Money

🎥 Mar 05, 2024 📺 RadNet ⏱ 7m 👁 359 views

March 1, 2024.

About Howard Berger

Howard Berger, chairman, president, and CEO of RadNet, has discussed the company's expansion into new markets and its focus on using technology to address workforce shortages in radiology. In September 2024, Berger told CNBC's Jim Cramer that RadNet's growth is driven by the overall growth of the imaging industry and a shift of imaging services away from higher-cost hospital settings. He highlighted the company's pilot project with Walmart in Delaware aimed at increasing breast cancer screening access and convenience, and announced a similar pilot project in Phoenix, Arizona. Berger also discussed the use of artificial intelligence to aid radiologists in detecting prostate cancer and the role of MRI scans in monitoring patients on new Alzheimer's drugs. In a December 2024 interview, Berger stated that the biggest challenge in healthcare is workforce availability, particularly in radiology, and that the future of the field requires moving away from manual processes and using technology to improve workflow. He described imaging as the forerunner for earlier disease detection and population health management. Separately, in a 2023 testimony, Berger spoke about his personal experience living with Parkinson's disease, describing his approach to managing the condition through exercise and diethol.

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Transcript (13 segments)

Jim Cramer0:04

You see a stock like RadNet, the diagnostic imaging company with 366 locations across seven states, soaring 177% in a single day. I want you to remember this was actually gettable. I know that because we had the CEO of RadNet on the show in October, and he told a very compelling story, to the point where I recommended buying the darn thing. I hope you listened. The stock has now rallied from 29 to roughly 44 since then, quitting today's monster move. I mean, you think RadNet got a takeover bid or something, but in reality they just reported a terrific top and bottom line beat with a healthy full year forecast. Clearly Wall Street's just lapping this one up. So let's take a closer look with Dr. Howard Berger. He's the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of RadNet. To find out more, Dr. Berger, welcome back to Mad Money.

Howard Berger0:44

Thank you, Jim.

Jim Cramer0:47

Well, you know, Dr. Berger, when you were on, you traced out this wonderful thesis basically that the payers would really prefer to shift scans out of hospitals to your kind of company, and I guess it's just accelerated because these numbers are nothing short of amazing.

Howard Berger1:04

Well, I think it's a combination, Jim, of not only that but just the overall growth in the imaging industry as people recognize the value that imaging plays in early detection and ultimately a better outcome in their health. So, you know, because we deal with elective procedures, the average person is going to make their way into our office simply with growth that occurs as the population increases, and as people age they need more and more imaging. But the additional component now really has been added with the transition away from the higher cost hospital settings, as well as the new technology such as PET/CT scanning for better diagnostic evaluation of prostate cancer, which has allowed us to accelerate these very useful tools for earlier detection and precision detection.

Jim Cramer2:10

Well, I think a good example of that is that mammography, mammograms now riding their breast screening service inside Walmart. That's where people can go, and that's a great place to see people can get detection by going to Walmart.

Howard Berger2:28

Well, we think not only will that be more convenient for patients, but there is perhaps one-third of the female population that should be getting routine breast screening and which are not for a variety of reasons, many of which is it's just inconvenient to find a place that's comfortable for them to go or a lack of education. So the program at Walmart in our first pilot project in Delaware was really to try to tap into better education and convenience that will hopefully take the one-third of the patients that should be getting screening exams more accessible and more comfortable with it. That, along with the fact that even though annual screening is advised, women are not often getting that, and so if you can do it at the place where they're just going on a regular basis to begin with, then it should provide us with a better opportunity to enhance the breast cancer detection. I'm pleased with the early results of our pilot project in Delaware and happy to announce today that I believe later this month we're going to be implementing a pilot project in Phoenix, Arizona also.

Jim Cramer3:54

Excellent. Now you mentioned prostate. The standard of care used to be a very invasive biopsy that we all know can cause infections and in some cases lead to very difficult complications, but there is becoming a new standard of care and it involves exactly what you mentioned, which is to use contrast MRIs, not invasive, and just apparently just as good if not better at spotting cancer.

Howard Berger4:18

Well, particularly if you aid the radiologist with some of the artificial intelligence that we've developed or that has been developed, and which we own a company that does, to be able to identify more accurately and make the radiologist more efficient and confident in their diagnosis. So while it doesn't always eliminate the biopsy, which is necessary to get the pathology report and help better determine what the next step should be, what we're really looking at is trying to avoid the biopsies on those patients that really didn't need it, that might have been done blindly just because they had an elevated PSA. So the standard of care now is very rapidly becoming a screening and or diagnostic prostate MRI scan.

Jim Cramer5:19

Well, I think that's incredible because some people felt that it was just wasteful to the system. The system is increasingly too expensive, and I'm one of the classic examples in terms of too expensive is we're about to have a new Alzheimer's dementia drug. It's going to be approved, I believe, for Eli Lilly. We have one for Biogen, and without your screening it's possible that everyone in the world would demand this treatment. We can't do that. You're talking about four MRI screenings that maybe hallucinates who should be eligible for these.

Howard Berger5:49

Well, the MRI scan, Jim, actually is done after a patient has been determined appropriate to go on a trial of the new drugs. The current one that is most talked about is Leqembi. But once you do the PET/CT scan or PET/MRI scan to determine whether or not they're a candidate for the new drugs, then for follow-up treatment, because of the side effects that these drugs can cause that have changes occurring in the brain, we use the MRI for detection to avoid complications where the cure might be worse than the disease. So the MRI volume as a result of more and more of these patients being diagnosed as an eligible candidate for the drugs will have to be followed up by routine MRI scanning on a pretty regular basis.

Jim Cramer6:58

Well, I mean, that's just a look at. No one wants to have to say that something's an annuity stream off of somebody's pain, but I, sir, I think that you are in one of the best positions in trying to keep healthcare costs down and also getting the patient the kind of health they need, kind of treatment they need. Dr. Howard Berger is the RadNet president. Dr. Berger, thank you for coming on the show.

Howard Berger7:17

Jim, thanks for having me, and hopefully the next time we can do it in person again.

Jim Cramer7:22

I hope so. What a stock, and that Dr. Berger brought it to attention, but it originally started by the way with one of our viewers who called in and suggested this might be a great idea. Our viewers are the smartest there is. Mad Money's back here for the break.