Emergency departments’ use of CT imaging has increased substantially since 2013
U.S. emergency departments’ use of CT imaging has increased substantially since 2013, according to new research published Tuesday in Radiology.
This uptick was attributed to more scans being administered per ED visit, rather than a rise in overall patient volumes, an analysis of Medicare data found. Experts that the surge was seen across all types of computed tomography examinations, including CT angiography.
“The pronounced increase in CT utilization per ED encounter may reflect an evolving role of CT in ED care delivery; for example, when prompt CT ordering is used to expedite patient turnover,” radiologist and researcher Andrew B. Rosenkrantz, MD, and colleague Ryan W. Cummings, MD, both with NYU Langone Health in New York, wrote Sept. 30. “Nonetheless, further study is warranted to better understand the drivers of the growth.”
Researchers utilized fee-for-service Medicare data spanning 2013 to 2023 for their analysis. During this time span, the number of emergency department encounters per 100 beneficiaries fell from 65 in 2013 down to 54.5 a decade later (a 16% drop). Use of X-ray imaging per 100 beneficiaries remained flat, at 37.3/100 both at the beginning and end of the timespan. Meanwhile, ultrasound use increased by about 19.7% (2.3 up to 2.8/100), and CT leapt 95.8% (from 18.7 to 36.7/100).
When looking at utilization of emergency department imaging per 100 ED encounters (rather than per 100 beneficiaries), X-ray leapt about 19.2% over the course of a decade (from 57.4 to 68.5/100). Ultrasound rose about 42.7% (3.6 to 5.1/100), and CT utilization jumped 133.5% (from 28.7 to 67.1/100). The authors speculated that sonography may have seen more modest increases thanks to the rising popularity of point-of-care ultrasound among nonradiologist ED practitioners.
“Such growth in ED imaging can strain radiology practices given radiologist shortages and expectation of providing prompt interpretations on a 24-7 basis,” Rosenkrantz and Cummings wrote.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.