Diagnostic imaging use showed negligible growth between 2009 and 2013 among commercially insured Massachusetts residents, according to a study published online April 14 in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
In fact, overall imaging expenditures declined, largely due to decreased payments per claim in most imaging modalities -- in contrast to increased utilization and spending on nonimaging healthcare services, wrote a team led by Stephen Flaherty of Northeastern University in Boston.
Flaherty and colleagues used current procedural terminology (CPT) codes to identify diagnostic imaging claims from the Massachusetts All-Payer Claims database between 2009 and 2013. The group tracked utilization and annual spending by imaging modality using total claims, claims per 1,000 patients, total expenditures, and average per-claim payments.
The number of diagnostic imaging claims per insured Massachusetts resident increased by only 0.6% over the study time frame, whereas nonradiology service claims increased by 6% annually, the researchers found.
The group also noted the following:
- Average payments per claim were lower in 2013 than in 2009 for all modalities except nuclear medicine.
- Some modalities' use did increase over the study time frame: by 13% for MRI, 17% for ultrasound, and 12% for x-ray.
- CT claims per 1,000 residents decreased by 37% between 2009 and 2013.
- Nuclear medicine claims declined 57% over the study time frame.
"Diagnostic imaging spending overall is trending downward," Flaherty and colleagues concluded. "Falling payment per claim for advanced imaging and shifts to lower-cost, lower-radiation alternatives may, in part, help to explain the reduction in imaging expenditures."
