AMA Cites Radiation Risks, Best Practices in Slowing CT Orders

As research has demonstrated greater risks from ionizing radiation, doctors are ordering fewer imaging scans, according to a story this week from the American Medical Association (AMA). As reported in the June 13 issue of JAMA, CT ordering slowed from a more than 10 percent growth rate from 1998 to 2005, which dipped to 4 percent in 2005-08 and has flattened since, according to HMO data. Since November 2007, when the New England Journal of Medicine claimed as much as 2 percent of all cancers could be linked to radiation exposure from CT scans, which were recently identified as the culprit in additional childhood cancers according to a study published this month from The Lancet. In response, professional groups created guidance documents to help limit the number of tests ordered and lower the dose administered across the board. From the ACR Appropriateness Criteria (which were just updated this week) to campaigns like Image Gently and Image Wisely, radiologists are working to ensure that only necessary scans are ordered, and then only administered with appropriate dosage. “The trend suggests that research demonstrating a link between radiation exposure from medical testing and cancer is having an impact on how often doctors order CTs, as well as how much radiation is used when conducting imaging studies,” according to the AMA news site. Other contributing factors include the use of CT among emergency and Medicare patients, which have remained stable from 2008-09 in the case of the former, and have slowed to a 1.6 percent annual growth rate among the former, according to an October 2010 survey from healthcare consulting firm The Moran Company.