Health Care Costs & Quality

Overview

Diagnostic medical imaging and radiation therapy are two complementary but distinct aspects of patient care that have revolutionized health care delivery in America.

As we look to the future of health care in this country, we cannot see our way to better outcomes and lower costs without the lens that medical imaging and minimally invasive radiotherapy provides. The medical technologies MITA’s member companies research, develop and manufacture are the future of delivering better health outcomes at lower costs.

Integral to Standards of Care

With an estimated 1.4 million Americans diagnosed with cancer in 2008 alone, and malignancies claiming over half a million lives, access to imaging services is essential for diagnosing disease when its most treatable and giving physicians the ability to determine if a therapy is working.  Medical imaging also plays an integral role in therapeutic treatments as radiation oncology is a cornerstone of cancer therapy offering highly personalized, non-invasive and cost-effective care for 50-60 percent of all diagnosed cancer patients today.

Both medical imaging and radiation therapy are integral to established medical guidelines. These guidelines reflect clinical recommendations developed by specialty physician groups on how best to diagnose and treat specific medical conditions. They are based upon proven best practices, widely accepted standards and scientific evidence.  Some examples include the following:

• Guidelines by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology recommend use of CT and other imaging technologies to diagnose peripheral arterial disease.

• Guidelines developed by the American Cancer Society, the American Medical Association, the American College of Radiology, the National Cancer Institute and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology recommend regular mammograms for woman and regular MR imaging for women in specified high-risk categories.

• Guidelines by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network on the most appropriate treatments for various disease sites.

• Guidelines developed by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine that define necessary quality assurance measures for intensity modulated radiation therapy to ensure accurate and safe treatment for cancer patients.

• Guidelines by the National Cancer Institute define standards of care for screening and testing of specific cancers.

Turning Patients into Survivors

Our technologies are not only fundamental to standards of care, but they also help patients avoid or limit more invasive procedures, and return to their families, lives, and work more quickly.

From receiving a CT scan instead of a cardiac catheterization or detecting a polyp before it is cancerous, or receiving a course of radiotherapy that allows a patient to keep his daily schedule of work and home commitments rather than endure invasive surgery, peer-reviewed research confirms that these medical technologies not only improve health outcomes and save lives, but also reduce health care costs and drive down spending.

Imaging Saves Health Care Expenditures

Beyond the life-saving impact of medical imaging, researchers have also found that it saves money in the long-run.  Every $1 spent on inpatient imaging correlates to approximately $3 in total savings, and according to researchers at Harvard Medical School, every $385 spent on imaging decreases a patient’s hospital stay by one day, saving approximately $3,000 per patient.

Other, disease specific studies have found that increased imaging could save up to $1.2 billion annually in the treatment of stroke patients, and since 1998, CT scans have been found to significantly reduce the negative appendectomy rate and the number of unnecessary hospital admissions, saving $447 per patient.