New Study from Mass General Finds Imaging Costs in Line with Other Hospital Costs
Medical imaging costs are rising at about the same rate as other hospital costs and are leading to shorter hospital stays, according to a study of 17,139 patients admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston between 1996 and 2002.
The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Radiology, casts doubt on claims that medical imaging is a primary driver of hospital costs. Click here for study abstract.
- The study found that, while overall hospital costs climbed 55% over the 7-year period, imaging costs rose 51% during that time—despite a doubling in the number of CT and MR exams performed annually.
- "It's hard to say that diagnostic imaging is driving hospital costs when imaging costs have increased at approximately the same rate as other expenses in healthcare," said study author Dr. G. Scott Gazelle,director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Technology Assessment and associate professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School.
- The study also found that imaging was linked to shorter hospital stays. Every additional $385 of imaging costs was associated with a 1-day decrease in the length of stay. "Those patients who had more imaging had less of a hospital stay," said Gazelle.
The study was based on case reviews in treatment areas noted for high use of imaging, including stroke, appendectomy, and lung and colon cancer.
1"Diagnostic Imaging Costs: Are They Driving Up the Costs of Hospital Care," Beinfeld MT, Gazelle SG, Radiology, Vol 235, No 3, June 2005, pp. 934-939.
2 "Diagnostic Imaging in Line with Other Hospital Costs," Press Release, Radiological Society of North America, May 24, 2005.
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