Dear AuntMinnie Member,
It's a far cry from CT's glory days, but at this point we may take what we can get. A new market research report indicates that CT procedure volume grew 4% in 2011, with providers worried about future reimbursement cuts but otherwise generally optimistic about the modality's prospects.
The single-digit growth rate pales in comparison to annual volume growth of 13% or more a decade ago, according to market research firm IMV Medical Information Division, which produced the report.
CT users believe their procedure volume will continue to grow in 2012, according to the report, but they are worried about potential reimbursement cuts. Still, a strong majority of users feel that their revenues from CT will either increase or remain the same this year.
The report also documents the dramatic shift of CT services into outpatient facilities owned by hospitals or integrated delivery networks; these sites experienced procedure-volume growth of 36% last year.
Learn more about the report's findings by clicking here, or visit the CT Digital Community at ct.auntminnie.com.
Radiology salaries drop
In other news, salaries for both radiologists and radiologic technologists (RTs) in the U.S. fell in 2011, according to results of the most recent SalaryScan survey.
Salaries for radiologists dipped to an average base salary of $346,564 in 2011, compared with an average base salary of $363,621 in the 2010 edition of SalaryScan. Radiologists in the U.S. heartland are once again the highest paid, with imaging professionals in the three central regions of the country occupying the top spots.
For radiologic technologists, salaries dropped to $63,965 ($30.75 on an hourly basis) in 2011, compared with an average base salary of $64,120 ($30.82 hourly) in 2010. As in past SalaryScan surveys, RTs on the coasts were the highest paid, with the Pacific and New England regions reporting the highest salaries.
There was good news for at least one class of radiology professionals: radiology administrators, whose average base salary cracked six figures in the SalaryScan survey for the first time.
Get more details on salaries in your area -- and also parse the data by modality specialization -- by clicking here, or visit our Career Center at jobs.auntminnie.com.
Disclosure noticed: AuntMinnie.com is owned by IMV, Ltd.
