Changing Utilization Patterns of Cervical Spine Imaging in the Emergency Department: Perspectives From Two Decades of National Medicare Claims

Between 1994 and 2012, the overall utilization rate of cervical spine imaging for Medicare beneficiaries in the ED setting more than tripled. With a small decline in radiography (-27%) but a dramatic increase in CT (+8,864%), CT is now by far the dominant modality for imaging the cervical spine in the ED. Radiologists remain overwhelmingly the dominant providers of these interpretive services.