Imaging costs soared 30% over 10 years, but played smaller role in overall healthcare spending: study

DOTmed April 1, 2024
John R. Fischer

Despite a more than 30% increase in costs over ten years, medical imaging has become a smaller contributor to the overall healthcare spending, adding over 25% less than non-imaging services.

According to researchers at the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute, imaging allocations grew 35.9% between 2010 and 2021, compared to 63.7% for other forms of care. As spending for non-imaging services rose, the amount that imaging contributed to healthcare costs fell from 10.5% to 8.9%.

“General price inflation accounted for nearly two-thirds of the 35.9% increase in spending for imaging,” said Eric Christensen, director of economics and health services research at the Neiman Health Policy Institute, in a statement. “The next largest contributor to increased imaging spending was increased...

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