Jason Schneck:
Care has moved out of the inpatient environment and into shopping malls, outpatient imaging, outpatient surgery centers, and ambulatory care. Care has gone outside. It lives on every corner. And that has required a more mobile workforce, where you’ve got to apply not only medical physics but also radiation safety services in a number of different locations. That’s not inherent to a traditional in-house physics group. It moves us toward a mobile workforce that can get out, service all those locations, and support the kind of national program a healthcare system may set up.
Chris St. John:
Welcome to Frame by Frame: Rethink Imaging, a podcast by Imalogics. Here we explore the intricate world of medical imaging, aiming to dissect the field and inspire both professionals and curious minds alike. I’m your host, Chris St. John.
Hi everyone, and welcome back to Rethink Imaging. My guest today is Jason Schneck, the CEO of One Physics. Jason brings nearly three decades of leadership experience in healthcare, including senior roles at GE Healthcare and CAE Healthcare. At One Physics, he’s leading the company’s growth as a national provider of outsourced medical physics services. He has a front-row view of how consolidation, outsourcing, and workforce shortages are reshaping the physics profession and what it means for hospitals, staff, and patients.
Jason, welcome to the show. Thanks for joining us.
Jason Schneck:
Chris, thanks for having me on the show. I think it’s a great platform you’ve created for all things imaging related, and certainly all the dynamics we have in the space today. Super excited to be with you this morning.
Chris St. John:
Hell yeah. I’m super excited to talk to you. So if we take a step back, I’ve been having lots of conversations about the staffing crisis with radiologists, techs, medical physicists. When you look at the physics landscape right now, what do you think most people would be surprised by?
Jason Schneck:
A couple things. For 25 years before I joined One Physics, I worked alongside the physicist space. I was close to it, but not directly in medical physics, so I’ve had both an inside and outside view of what I’ve learned over the last 18 months as CEO.
The first thing I’d say is the role that medical physics plays in the healthcare environment is underrecognized and underappreciated. Fundamentally, it’s about patient safety and ensuring a safe environment for patients and clinicians. If you talk to a typical patient getting a CT scan, they often don’t understand that medical physics helps ensure the radiation output is safe, that they’re not being overexposed, and that the image quality is appropriate for diagnosis. So it’s underrecognized by patients, and sometimes even by providers.
The second thing is the industry has remained fairly fragmented. It’s one of the last spaces within healthcare that hasn’t consolidated at the rate other areas have. The complex regulatory environment, and the role states play, has slowed that down. We’re starting to see change, and we play a role in that, but it’s more fragmented than I anticipated.
The third thing is there are fundamental tailwinds within imaging and radiology that are really good for the industry. Advanced imaging is growing rapidly: more CT, more full-body PET, more molecular imaging. That’s all good for medical physics. You also have expansion into theranostics and advanced therapies, like Pluvicto and Lutathera, that bring the radiology side and oncology side of medical physics closer together. Those are strong growth indicators.
Chris St. John:
You said the industry is more fragmented than you initially thought. Why did you think it would be less fragmented?
Jason Schneck:
If you look at almost every other aspect of healthcare, consolidation is happening at a rapid pace. On the insurance side, provider side, and in many ancillary and clinical services, you see consolidation to build scale. In medical physics, state-by-state regulatory complexity has slowed that trend. I believe it’s inevitable that it changes, and we’re seeing the shift begin. I think it can be positive, but it has lagged other professions where consolidation is accelerating.
Chris St. John:
The debate between outsourced and in-house physics sounds like a business decision, but it also has industry-wide repercussions. How would you explain the divide?
Jason Schneck:
I wouldn’t call it a divide. In most parts of healthcare, you have a mix: in-house physicians plus partner relationships, in-house teams plus outsourced services. That’s common. I think the two dynamics can live in harmony.
I view it as positive because it gives medical physicists choice. Do I want academia and teaching? Research? Do I want to be a systemwide chief physicist or radiation safety officer? Most healthcare systems have in-house and outsourced staff doing different things and bringing different strengths. That collaboration is important, and it’s natural in modern care delivery.
Chris St. John:
Forgive my naivete, but on paper, it seems like in-house and outsourced physicists deliver the same services: accreditation, compliance, safety. In practice, you’re saying they provide different services. Can you explain that?
Jason Schneck:
If you’re a large health system, you likely have a national radiation safety officer, or a chief diagnostic physicist, or a chief therapy physicist providing oversight and guidance across the system.
But as care moves out of the inpatient environment and into outpatient centers, retail locations, ambulatory sites, care lives everywhere. That requires a more mobile workforce that can apply medical physics and radiation safety across many locations, which isn’t inherent to a traditional in-house group.
Another advantage is we do thousands of tests annually. We see equipment from every manufacturer. We understand the idiosyncrasies. We have relationships with OEMs and can call them for support. If you’re in-house and mostly work with one OEM, or you haven’t dealt with something like Pluvicto from a radiopharmaceutical standpoint, that can be new. We’re in those environments every day and provide guidance that may not exist in a typical day-to-day hospital setting.
Chris St. John:
There’s a lot of discourse about outsourced physicists not being at the same level of service. What do you say to that?
Jason Schneck:
I don’t agree with it. We have some of the best physicists in the country. It comes back to choice and diversity of pathways. Some people want academia, research, and teaching. Others want to focus on testing and calibration or policy and regulatory work. Others want leadership roles.
Having both in-house and outsourced pathways gives people the ability to pursue what they’re good at and what they’re passionate about. I think it’s positive, and I think it’s inevitable. Change is going to happen. You can lead it or be dragged by it. We want to advocate for positive change. There will always be a balance of in-house and outsourced, and we believe we bring a valuable skill set to medical physics and radiation safety.
Chris St. John:
When you’re brought in as a third-party physics provider, how do you structure that relationship? Is it a menu of services, a proactive partnership, assigned physicists? How does it work across diagnostic and therapy?
Jason Schneck:
It operates differently.
On the therapy side, it’s more of a nested model. We spend more time on site and are integrated into care teams day to day.
On the diagnostic side, it can range from transactional fee-for-service all the way up to comprehensive program management for acute care hospitals, IDNs, outpatient imaging groups, and more.
Our goal is flexibility. As a customer’s environment and footprint changes, we evolve with them and provide support at whatever level they need. We start with: “What do you need?” and there’s ongoing collaboration about how to structure the relationship within the right parameters for patient care, regulation, radiation safety testing, calibration, accreditation, and yes, economics.
Chris St. John:
Have you come across health systems that underinvest or just want to check the box instead of choosing what they need for maximum safety?
Jason Schneck:
Yes, we do. That’s part of why we’ve worked hard to build a comprehensive wing-to-wing medical physics and radiation safety organization. Many organizations don’t see how interconnected these requirements are. They manage them in silos and miss the connective tissue.
We have healthy debates. People interpret regulations differently. Our goal is to advise and consult. And if we don’t think an environment is right for us to partner in, we won’t get involved.
Chris St. John:
Most outsourced physics groups are private, but some could be tied to public companies. Do you worry ownership changes could affect services for hospitals and patients?
Jason Schneck:
I believe the funding structure or ownership should have no influence on how a company performs. We’re defined by our people, our mission, our values, and how we show up every day.
As consolidation occurs, I do think it can give us a bigger voice and more representation for medical physics, which is underrepresented and under-advocated. With scale, we can invest in advocacy and influence regulatory environments in a positive way. We can also create career opportunities and choices for physicists.
Ultimately, we all compete on the same playing field. If we don’t show up and do our job well, customers will make a different choice. We have to earn trust daily. Culture matters to us. We want to be a destination workplace for medical physics.
Chris St. John:
When I hear “consolidation,” I think monopolies and risk. But you’re saying consolidation can mean progress because you can invest more and do more.
Jason Schneck:
Exactly. Strength and scale allow investment in residency programs and education. We have clinical advisory boards. Many physicists sit on ACR and ABR boards in different modalities. We’re active in MQSA regulation. With over 250 clinicians, we can invest in those things.
We don’t define the rules. Regulatory and accrediting bodies do, and we all have to follow them whether we’re two physicists or 250. That’s the safeguard. We don’t agree with everything, but we work to influence positive change. With scale, that ability is enhanced.
Chris St. John:
Critics say outsourcing creates distance, that physicists aren’t there, not close with staff, not ingrained in culture. How do you respond?
Jason Schneck:
Our physicists and radiation safety officers support over 500 facilities across North America. We’re on site daily, weekly, or monthly depending on the need. We sit in construction and project planning meetings. We’re a phone call away, and we’re on site often. Radiologists and oncologists call our physicists regularly for consultation. We also use remote physics when needed.
Yes, the paycheck says something different, but does that matter? Not in form and function.
It can be an economic decision, but it’s also strategic: is medical physics a core competency of a healthcare system? The regulatory, radiation safety, and molecular imaging environment is complex. That’s what we do all day, every day. A health system has to decide whether it wants to invest deeply in that as a core focus, or partner with a trusted specialist and hold them accountable for efficiency, safety, quality, and patient care.
Chris St. John:
And on the other side, in-housing isn’t always sustainable. It seems unrealistic for every hospital to staff their own physicists given the shortage.
Jason Schneck:
That’s right. Look at large systems like Ascension or HCA. They’ve built hundreds of outpatient and ambulatory centers nationwide. For an in-house physicist who used to support one building, covering a state’s worth of ambulatory centers with X-ray, CT, and C-arms is not reasonable.
Care moving out of acute settings means medical physics is needed everywhere. That requires change, and we want to lead it in a positive way.
Chris St. John:
Is there concern about in-house teams becoming too insulated? And what does collaboration look like inside your team?
Jason Schneck:
One value of having 250 clinicians is being able to identify subject matter experts by modality and even by OEM. If a physicist needs experience with a less common MRI platform or a specific mammography system, we can connect them with someone who has deep expertise. We leverage collective knowledge and exposure to improve quality and performance.
We also collaborate closely with in-house physicists. There aren’t walls. We work hand-in-hand with them.
As for isolation, medical physics has strong associations and education resources, like CAMPEP and AAPM. The profession does a good job with continuing education. But in areas like radiopharmaceuticals and molecular imaging, where technology is evolving quickly, lack of exposure can be a risk. That’s where broad visibility across many environments can create real value, especially when health systems adopt new therapies.
Chris St. John:
I’ve never heard of Pluvicto. Can you give context?
Jason Schneck:
Pluvicto is a radiotherapy used to treat advanced prostate cancer. A few years ago, a stage 4 diagnosis might have meant hospice and low chances of survival. Pluvicto targets cancer at the prostate level and has shown strong results in advanced stages.
There’s tremendous investment in theranostics right now. What used to be a tracer can be inverted into a treatment. It opens up new options beyond traditional radiation therapy and creates real optimism for patients.
It’s also bringing diagnostic and therapy medical physics closer together: diagnosis and treatment planning rely on advanced imaging, and then you deliver a therapy.
Chris St. John:
We’ve got a theranostics episode coming up. I’m a few steps behind.
Jason Schneck:
It’s amazing healthcare, and it’s changing the dynamic between diagnostic and therapy physics and bringing them together.
Chris St. John:
If I’m a patient getting a scan tomorrow, would I have any indication whether physics is in-house or outsourced?
Jason Schneck:
No. You won’t.
Ironically, I was at the dentist this week, got a dental X-ray, and out of curiosity I looked at who the medical physics provider was on the system. But for patients, the safeguard is accreditation. The imaging device is accredited by ACR or another accrediting body, and we all submit images and work to the same parameters. Whether it’s an in-house physicist or One Physics, the standards are the standards.
It’s not something patients need to worry about. That’s why the regulatory environment exists.
Chris St. John:
Looking forward 10 years, what do you think the landscape looks like?
Jason Schneck:
If you look back 30 years, outsourcing and consolidation in hospitals started with laundry, food, and security. It moved into technical services, then biomed, then diagnostic imaging, and even radiology staffing. Those trends have continued.
I believe medical physics will move in that direction as well. There will always be balance, but thinking medical physics will stay unchanged while everything else evolves is unrealistic.
The goal is to lead the change positively: invest in advocacy, influence regulatory environments responsibly, create educational opportunities, and expand career paths for physicists. Customers are already asking for comprehensive physics partners because their footprints are expanding into new areas they can’t do alone. They want trusted, responsible partners, and we’re working to be that.
Chris St. John:
We know we’re short on physicists nationally. What steps can we take to address the staffing shortage, and what is One Physics doing?
Jason Schneck:
Awareness is a big part of it. People don’t know the profession exists. It’s a great career: highly technical, strong income potential, meaningful work. We’re focused on driving awareness of the importance of the profession and the opportunities.
Second, we invest heavily in residency programs on diagnostic and therapy sides. We’re up to seven or eight programs across the company. We partner with academics to train and bring new physicists into the field. Sure, we hope they choose One Physics, but even if they go elsewhere, it’s still an investment in the profession.
Third is advocacy: ABR, AAPM, CAMPEP. We want to be active and drive positive change.
I also worry about the aging population of physicists and the need to responsibly transfer knowledge to the next generation.
Chris St. John:
There’s a high barrier to entry. Do you think requirements should loosen to get people into programs faster?
Jason Schneck:
In some situations, I’d love to see that. The pathway is stringent: a master’s degree from an accredited program, a minimum two-year residency, and requirements can vary by state.
We don’t set those regulations, but we work with CAMPEP to find efficient, responsible training approaches. It can feel like overeducation in some environments. Over time, we hope to influence positive changes.
Chris St. John:
I mean even before that. To get into the master’s program, you often need an undergrad physics degree. That’s a high bar.
Jason Schneck:
That starts with the education system. We don’t have as many people going into math and sciences as we need. I have three teenagers, and career conversations today are very different than 30 years ago. I have an engineering background, not physics, but I’ve worked closely with it.
We also try to build tools to make physicists more efficient so they can do physics work, not get buried in tasks that clutter their plates.
Chris St. John:
If someone says outsourcing is just a temporary stopgap, what would you say?
Jason Schneck:
I don’t think it’s a stopgap. The trend has existed for decades. We’ve seen acceleration, but not at the pace of other parts of healthcare. History shows many technical, ancillary, and clinical services moved in this direction. Medical physics is unlikely to be fundamentally different in a way that avoids those trends.
Change can be positive if we invest in advocacy, bring more young people in, expand residencies and education, and support the profession. We’ve also done work bringing international physicists into the country through structured mentorship programs.
We want to create a destination workplace with many career paths: staff physicist, chief physicist, leadership, regulatory, radiation safety. I don’t think resisting change is an option. Healthcare won’t allow medical physics to stay the same for 50 years given the challenges.
We need to evolve, adapt, and improve, and we can do that in a way that benefits the profession and our customer partners.
Chris St. John:
Jason, thank you so much for joining us today. It’s been really great chatting with you.
Jason Schneck:
Chris, we appreciate the opportunity. I love the work you do. Keep doing it. I’m looking forward to upcoming episodes, and hopefully someday I can be back on the show. Thanks for the time today.
Chris St. John:
Absolutely. We’d love to have you back. This has been Jason Schneck, CEO of One Physics. Jason, thanks again, and we’ll talk soon.
This has been Frame by Frame: Rethink Imaging, brought to you by Imalogics. Here you’ll find engaging interviews with thought leaders, experts, and patients, sharing stories that showcase the transformative power of medical imaging. Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. And from all of us at Imalogics, thanks for tuning in.