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Diagnostic Imaging Costs: Are They Driving Up the Costs of Hospital Care?¹

¹ From the Institute for Technology Assessment and Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 101 Merrimac St, 10th Floor, Boston, MA 02114-4724 (M.T.B., G.S.G.); and Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, Mass (G.S.G.). From the 2002 RSNA Annual Meeting. Received March 11, 2004; revision requested May 21; revision received July 19; accepted August 18. Address correspondence to G.S.G.

View larger version (17K): [in a new window]   Figure 1. Graph depicts total hospital and inpatient imaging costs at our institution according to fiscal year for years 1996 through 2002. All costs are presented relative to 1996 levels (ie, 1996 levels are set to 100%). In 2002, total hospital costs were 55% higher than they were in 1996, and inpatient imaging costs were 51% higher than they were in 1996.

View larger version (11K): [in a new window]   Figure 2. Graph depicts inpatient imaging costs as a percentage of hospital costs at our institution according to fiscal year for years 1996 through 2002. Imaging costs, although variable between 1996 and 2002, represented approximately 10% of total hospital costs.

View larger version (15K): [in a new window]   Figure 3. Graph depicts unit cost per MR image and CT scan at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass, according to fiscal year for years 1996 through 2002. All costs are presented relative to 1996 levels (ie, 1996 levels are set to 100%). In 2002, the cost per MR image was 110% that of 1996 levels, whereas the cost per CT scan in 2002 was 59% that of 1996 levels.