Non-physician practitioners are reading more medical images in U.S. medical offices. That’s according to a new study in JACR by researchers who found that the share of images interpreted by NPPs has doubled in the last 10 years.
In the U.S., radiologists consider themselves to be the primary interpreters of medical images, but inroads have been made not only by other physicians but also by non-physician practitioners like nurses and physician assistants.
- NPPs are supposed to receive specialized training in image interpretation, but radiologists question whether such training is adequate, especially compared to the years of training that radiologists receive.
Previous research has documented the rise in NPP image interpretation, but the new study takes a longer view, examining the period 2013-2022.
- It also specifically focuses on the medical office setting, where it’s believed NPP interpretation is growing faster than in hospitals, where radiologists still dominate interpretations.
In their analysis of Medicare claims, researchers from the ACR’s Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute found …
- NPPs’ share of office-based image interpretations grew 9% annually (2.5% to 5.5%).
- Growth rates varied by modality, with MRI growing at 9.9% annually, followed by CT (9.4%), ultrasound (9.4%), radiography (8.9%), and nuclear medicine (7.2%).
- Despite the growth, just 5.6% of NPPs were interpreting images.
- By specialty, the share of NPP interpretation was most common with primary care (40%) and orthopedic offices (34%).
The researchers also tracked variability in NPP interpretation rates by state, finding the highest rates ( ~13%) in Western states with large rural areas like Montana, Alaska, and Idaho, where presumably there are fewer radiologists available to read images.
The Takeaway
The findings provide a good news/bad news look at non-physician image interpretation. The good news for radiologists is that NPP interpretation is still pretty rare; the bad news is that rates are growing quickly. And given the ongoing radiologist shortage, there is sure to be continuing pressure to allow allied health staff to read images on their own.
