CT has become the latest battleground in the ongoing turf war between radiologists and other physicians over control of medical imaging technology.
That's according to a new story by staff writer Kate Madden Yee that we're featuring this week in our Imaging Center Digital Community. The article is based on a research study conducted by physician self-referral expert Dr. David Levin and colleagues from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.
In the study, Levin and colleagues found that utilization of CT by radiologists rose by 85% over the five-year survey period, but surged 263% among nonradiologists. The rate of growth in particular skyrocketed among cardiologists.
Will radiology be able to retain control over CT? Or will it slip away like echocardiography and nuclear cardiology? We don't know the answer to that question, but you can check out the story by clicking here.
Hospital purchasing plans
In other news, a new survey released this week serves up more doom and gloom regarding medical imaging's economic prospects in 2009. A survey by the MarkeTech Group in Davis, CA, of hospital purchasing plans for next year indicates that more than half of radiology department managers are planning to significantly reduce spending on imaging capital equipment.
What's more, the vast majority are expecting lower procedure volumes as well. To read more, click here, or visit the Imaging Center Digital Community at imagingcenter.auntminnie.com.
