Trends in Utilization Rates of the Various Imaging Modalities in Emergency Departments: Nationwide Medicare Data From 2000 to 2008

The rate of utilization of imaging is increasing in EDs. Growth is by far the most pronounced in CT, in terms of both the growth rate itself and the actual number of accrued new studies per 1,000 beneficiaries. Radiologists strongly predominate as the physicians of record for all ED imaging.