Recent Trends in Utilization Rates of Noncardiac Thoracic Imaging: An Example of How Imaging Growth Might Be Controlled

The overall utilization rate of noncardiac chest imaging in recent years has increased only minimally. Within the various categories, there has been a decline in CXR utilization and a substantial decline in radionuclide scan utilization. However, there has been a considerable increase in the utilization of chest CT/CTA. Radiologists strongly predominate in all aspects of noncardiac thoracic imaging. This seems to be a pattern in which the use of a newer and better technology, CT or CTA, gradually replaces older ones and overall utilization rates remain relatively flat. One reason for this seems to be the lack of major involvement by nonradiologist physicians who might be in a position to self-refer. It is in contradistinction to cardiac imaging, in which the utilization of radionuclide scans and echocardiography has sharply increased among cardiologists. These data suggest that utilization rates in imaging might be kept under control by eliminating the opportunity for self-referral.