Becker's Healthcare April 2, 2025
According to a new study by the Neiman Healthy Policy Institute, office-based physicians are interpreting hundreds of thousands of medical images they ordered themselves each year, rather than sending them to trained radiologists.
The study, published April 1 in the American Journal of Roentgeology, found that nonradiologists working in physician offices ordered over 1.6 million imaging exams for Medicare beneficiaries in 2022. Of those, they interpreted about 43.6% themselves, as opposed to review by radiologists.
Researchers used the CMS 5% research identifiable file for 2022 to identify claims for office-based, nonbreast diagnostic imaging ordered by nonradiologists for a nationally representative sample of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. Only 36.4% of those claims were interpreted by radiologists, and 58.5% were interpreted by...
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