Journal of the American College of Radiology
Volume 5, Issue 12 , Pages 1206-1209 , December 2008

Ownership or Leasing of CT Scanners by Nonradiologist Physicians: A Rapidly Growing Trend That Raises Concern About Self-Referral

  • David C. Levin, MD

      Affiliations

    • Center for Research on Utilization of Imaging Services (CRUISE), Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    • HealthHelp, Inc., Houston, Texas
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author and reprints: David C. Levin, MD, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Main 1090, Philadelphia, PA 19107
    • ,
  • Vijay M. Rao, MD

      Affiliations

    • Center for Research on Utilization of Imaging Services (CRUISE), Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    • ,
  • Laurence Parker, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Center for Research on Utilization of Imaging Services (CRUISE), Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    • ,
  • Andrea J. Frangos, MS

      Affiliations

    • Center for Research on Utilization of Imaging Services (CRUISE), Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    • ,
  • Jonathan H. Sunshine, PhD

      Affiliations

    • American College of Radiology, Reston, Virginia

References 

  1. Iglehart JK. The new era of medical imaging—progress and pitfalls. N Engl J Med. 2006;354:2822–2828
  2. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Payment for imaging services under the Medicare physician fee schedule, Herb Kuhn, director, CMM: House Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/press/testimony.asp?counter=1903Accessed May 29, 2007
  3. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. 2004 medical cost reference guide. http://athensbenefits.com/pdf/2004_12_13_blue_cross_blue_shield_medical_cost_reference_guide.pdfAccessed May 29, 2007
  4. Levin DC, Rao VM. Turf wars in radiology: the overutilization of imaging resulting from self-referral. J Am Coll Radiol. 2004;1:169–172
  5. Levin DC, Rao VM. Turf wars in radiology: updated evidence on the relationship between self-referral and the overutilization of imaging. J Am Coll Radiol. 2008;5:652–656
  6. Gazelle GS, Halpern EF, Ryan HS, Tramontano AC. Utilization of diagnostic medical imaging: comparison of radiologist referral versus same-specialty referral. Radiology. 2007;245:517–522
  7. Hillman BJ, Joseph CA, Mabry MR, Sunshine JH, Kennedy SD, Noether M. Frequency and costs of diagnostic imaging in office practice—a comparison of self-referring and radiologist-referring physicians. N Engl J Med. 1990;323:1604–1608
  8. Hillman BJ, Olson GT, Griffith PE, et al. Physicians' utilization and charges for outpatient diagnostic imaging in a Medicare population. JAMA. 1992;268:2050–2054
  9. Mitchell JM. The prevalence of physician self-referral arrangements after Stark II: evidence from advanced diagnostic imaging. Health Aff. 2007;26:w415–w424Available at: http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.26.3.w415. Accessed December 28, 2007
  10. Mitchell JM. Utilization trends for advanced imaging procedures (Evidence from individuals with private insurance coverage in California). Med Care. 2008;46:460–466
  11. Levin DC, Rao VM, Parker L, Frangos AJ, Sunshine JH. Ownership or leasing of MRI facilities by nonradiologist physicians is a rapidly growing trend. J Am Coll Radiol. 2008;5:105–109

 This study was supported in part by a grant from the American College of Radiology, Reston, Virginia.

PII: S1546-1440(08)00379-7

doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2008.07.014

Journal of the American College of Radiology
Volume 5, Issue 12 , Pages 1206-1209 , December 2008

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