That included $4.4 million in savings to employers and other health plan sponsors on MR imaging, and $1.7 million on CT scans, Sapphire Digital announced.

The Royal College of Radiologists estimates that the country needs another 1,900 physicians to work through all of the cases, and many scanners in the United Kingdom are over a decade old. 

As California has navigated step two of the governor’s reopening roadmap, Keck Medicine of USC has implemented a “phased and triaged” approach to working through its own deferred care backlog. 

CEO William Thorwarth Jr., MD, outlined ACR’s apprehension in a recent letter to the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

“We are hearing significant and growing concern from our member physicians that they cannot secure needed supplies to safely reopen," said James Madara, MD, chief executive of the American Medical Association. 

The Nashville-based physician firm said such visits have occurred across 34 states and in hospitals, offices, urgent care clinics and post-acute settings. 

In just a few short months, Beaumont Health system has delayed about 9,500 imaging exams, along with thousands more procedures. 

Los Angeles County hospital leaders have dubbed the initiative as “Better Together Health,” with radio and TV commercials using tag lines such as “Life may be on pause. Your health isn’t,” and “Get care when you need it.”