If you feel like you’re working harder than your colleagues, you might not be wrong. New data on changes in imaging volume in the U.S. before and after the COVID-19 pandemic show that while volume grew faster than the supply of radiologists, those reading the most imaging exams shouldered most of the burden.
Medical imaging volume has become a closely watched barometer as radiologists struggle to manage a rising tide of imaging exams with a workforce that’s largely stagnant.
- Various technologies – especially AI – have been suggested as possible solutions by enabling radiologists to work more efficiently and churn out more cases per day.
The COVID-19 pandemic complicated efforts to track imaging volume over time, as exam volumes dropped dramatically in 2020 before eventually rebounding.
- So how much is imaging volume growing, and how hard are radiologists working to meet demand?
The new JACR study compared imaging volumes, radiologist workforce growth, and corresponding workload for 1.6k radiologists from 167 U.S. practices before and after the pandemic (December 2017 to February 2024). The researchers found…
- Imaging exam volume grew 31% over the entire seven-year period, at a 4.6% compound annual growth rate.
- The number of working radiologists grew 24%, at a CAGR of 3.6%.
- There was little change in the overall number of exams radiologists read per day over the study period (49.1 vs. 49.4 exams).
- But the top quartile of radiologists by reading volume was reading 31% more exams/day by the end of the study (from 57 to 74 exams).
- While bottom-quartile radiologists saw their productivity decline 32% (from 79 to 54 exams).
As a side note, researchers concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately had a “modest effect” on the number of working radiologists, although rates of part-time work were higher during the pandemic.
The Takeaway
The new findings on imaging volume and radiologist productivity have fascinating implications. In aggregate, it seems that radiologists are keeping pace with rising volumes. But a closer look shows that the burden is falling disproportionately on those radiologists who are most productive – a trend that contributes to burnout among the very professionals the discipline should be working hardest to keep.
