Is history repeating itself? Signs are that U.S. healthcare payors, concerned over rising costs, are once again targeting medical imaging procedures like CT and MRI.
According to an article in our Imaging Center Digital Community, a recent survey found that medical imaging is among the areas targeted for cost reduction by health plans in 12 U.S. cities. According to the survey, imaging services is an area that's “prone to overuse,” and health plans are looking at ways to better manage utilization.
The survey's findings are eerily reminiscent of the situation just over a decade ago, when rising healthcare costs led to increased scrutiny of imaging services by HMOs, as well as the Clinton administration's ultimately failed plan to implement a national health insurance program. Everyone knows what happened next -- a collapse in capital equipment purchasing that took years for the industry to pull out of.
Could the same thing happen again? It's unlikely, due to the different political environment, but the medical imaging community shouldn't take this for granted. Radiology's supporters must continue to make the case for imaging's value in improving patient care and in reducing healthcare costs over the long haul, using both political advocacy and high-quality research to prove the point.
At the same time, our industry must recognize that inappropriate utilization does occur, and that efforts to rein it in are legitimate and deserve our support. By doing so, we can help ensure that history doesn't repeat itself.
Read all about the survey in our Imaging Center Digital Community, at imagingcenters.auntminnie.com. |
