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Imaging Cost Variation, Taxes and Cancer, and Tariff Prepping
May 5, 2025
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Together with
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“If medicine were a painting, radiologists would be the fine brush strokes – the details that bring the whole masterpiece together. Without us, it’s just a blank canvas waiting for clarity.”
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The always-quotable Röntgen.
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Interval cancer between mammography screening exams can be a vexing problem for breast imagers, but AI offers a possible solution. We talked to Manisha Bahl, MD, of Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital about some of the recent advances being made in this edition of The Imaging Wire Show.
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Why do costs for medical imaging procedures vary so much between U.S. hospitals? This is one of radiology’s most enduring mysteries, but a new study in JACR shows that variation may be narrowing in the wake of federal transparency rules.
It’s common knowledge that patients (and payors) can be charged differently for the same healthcare procedure based on the facility where it’s conducted.
- Previous studies have found that patients are surprisingly unclear on how much their imaging exams will cost them.
To clear things up, CMS in 2021 rolled out transparency rules for medical procedures that require healthcare providers to share cost information with patients.
- The rules specified 300 “shoppable” services, including 13 imaging procedures like mammography, abdominal ultrasound, and head CT and MRI scans.
But has the rule been effective in reducing cost variation?
- The new study tackles that question head-on, analyzing cost changes from 2023 to 2024 for three common outpatient imaging exams – MRI brain studies with and without contrast, chest radiographs, and nuclear medicine gastric emptying exams.
Researchers tracked prices for the three exams at 26 U.S. pediatric hospitals, finding …
- The variation coefficient for all three procedures declined 19% (from 27% to 21%).
- The greatest decline in variation was for nuclear medicine gastric emptying (-7.2%) while the smallest was for chest radiography (-2.2%).
- Overall prices rose 6.7% for payor-specific negotiated rates even as variation declined.
- Prices increased 7.7% for nuclear medicine gastric emptying, 6.6% for brain MRI, and 2.6% for chest radiography.
Among the five commercial payors tracked (Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Humana, and UnitedHealth), BCBS moved from having the second-lowest prices in 2023 to the lowest in 2024, while Humana was the highest-priced insurer in both years.
The Takeaway
The new results are a classic good news/bad news scenario for radiology. While the reduction in price variation is a positive trend, it appears that the growth in healthcare costs is an inexorable force that even the best-intended legislation can’t derail.
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Book a Visage Demo at SIIM 2025
Visage Imaging is trailblazing medical imaging’s SaaS move to the cloud with an open cloud philosophy based on industry standards and multi-cloud support. Learn more by registering for a priority demo at SIIM 2025 or visit them at booths #627-631.
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Improve Patient Engagement with Clearer Imaging Insights
When patients better understand their imaging results, they’re more engaged and confident in their care. PocketHealth’s Image Reader adds anatomical visualizations to imaging records, improving comprehension, strengthening provider-patient relationships, and driving higher satisfaction. Learn more here.
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Visit Enlitic at SIIM 2025
Visit Enlitic at SIIM 2025 at booth #530 to learn about their solutions for data standardization and migration, including their new partnership with GE HealthCare powering the data migration feature in GE’s new Genesis cloud portfolio. Book a demo today.
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- Death, Taxes, and Cancer Screening: U.S. states with higher taxes also have higher cancer screening rates – and lower cancer mortality. In a study in JAMA Network Open, researchers found that every $1k increase in state tax revenue per capita was associated with higher screening rates, with breast cancer the biggest difference at 2.17%. Every $1k increase in tax revenue per capita was linked to a 4% mortality decrease for cancers with screening programs, an association greater for White but not minority patients.
- Radiation Exposure from PET Patients: Patients who have been given PET radiopharmaceuticals can unwittingly expose other patients to radiation while awaiting their imaging exams. In a new study in Radiography, researchers in Denmark measured radiation dose from 24 patients at distances comparable to a hospital waiting room. One hour of exposure to four high-emitting PET patients totaled 135 microsieverts (dental X-ray = 5 microsieverts), suggesting that specialized waiting area protocols are needed to reduce exposure to pregnant women and children.
- Lead Apron Woes in the Cath Lab: Meanwhile, lead aprons are commonly used to protect cath lab personnel from scatter radiation. But the aprons themselves can cause health problems. The ERGO-CATH study presented at SCAI 2025 found that a higher percentage of 20 interventional cardiologists who were studied experienced discomfort while wearing traditional lead aprons compared to leadless protection gear from Rampart (43% vs. 35%). Average measured radiation was also higher (0.73 vs. 0.14 mrem).
- Finding Hidden Heart Risk: Patients with CAC scores of 0 may not be in the clear when it comes to acute coronary syndrome – especially if they are younger. In a new study in AJR, researchers used CTA and Cleerly’s AI software to analyze plaque composition in 216 patients drawn from the ICONIC study with symptoms but no previous coronary artery disease. Of the patients with ACS, 23% had CAC scores of 0, indicating that tools to assess noncalcified plaque might be needed in addition to CAC quantification.
- Cardiac MRI Determines Heart Age: How old is your heart – really? U.K. researchers used cardiac MRI to develop a “functional heart age” that reflects structural and physiological changes to the heart from healthy and unhealthy aging. They tested it in 557 individuals, finding that in healthy people the functional and chronological heart ages were the same, but the functional age was 4.6 years older in those with comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Functional heart age could direct preventive treatments long before symptoms develop.
- OCT Beats Angio for Stent Placement: In results from the CALIPSO trial, intravascular optical coherence tomography was more accurate than conventional angiography for guiding stent placement in patients with calcified coronary lesions. In a JAMA Cardiology paper studying 134 patients, stents placed under OCT guidance had a 23% larger minimal stent area (6.5 vs. 5 mm2), with smaller areas boosting the risk of stent failure. OCT can be especially valuable in preparing calcified lesions before stent placement, such as with intravascular lithotripsy.
- AI Detects More Cerebral Aneurysms: RapidAI’s Rapid Aneurysm software enabled radiologists to detect additional unruptured cerebral aneurysms not found on original radiology reports in research presented at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons annual meeting. In the retrospective study of 11.6k consecutive CTA exams, Rapid Aneurysm logged 88% sensitivity and 98% specificity, and found 23% more aneurysms not found on radiology reports. These aneurysms had a median size of 3.9 mm, big enough to require intervention in many cases.
- New Database for Chest X-Ray AI: A massive new database of chest X-ray studies has been launched to help with training AI algorithms. Gradient Health and the Rajpurkar Lab at Harvard Medical School collaborated to debut ReXGradient-160K, which features 160k anonymized radiology studies from 109k patients across three U.S. healthcare systems and 79 medical sites. To ensure algorithms trained on it are generalizable, ReXGradient-160K includes data balanced by demographics and age groups, and an even split between men and women.
- DeepSeek AI in China: Too Much Too Fast? As some in the U.S. healthcare community debate how to promote faster clinical adoption of AI, China’s rapid uptake of the DeepSeek AI algorithm serves as a cautionary tale. In an article in JAMA Network Open, Chinese clinicians debate the tension between rapid clinical dissemination of innovative technology like DeepSeek and the dangers that speedy adoption can entail. They suggest a more balanced approach that includes clinical safety with regulatory oversight.
- Circle CVI Partners with Aidoc: Circle Cardiovascular Imaging partnered with Aidoc to integrate its StrokeSENS ASPECT tool for stroke severity scoring with Aidoc’s Full Brain Solution. The partnership will enable clinicians to receive ASPECTS results on their PACS workstations and mobile devices minutes after CT brain scans, and to benefit from StrokeSENS ASPECT guidance when interpreting stroke cases.
- Avenda Highlights Prostate AI Study: Avenda Health is highlighting results of a prostate cancer study with its Unfold AI algorithm presented at last month’s American Urological Association meeting. For predicting seminal vesicle invasion (a factor in prostate cancer staging and prognosis) in 147 patients, Unfold AI had better accuracy than radiologists who interpreted standard MRI scans (92% vs. 52%). The results show Unfold AI can determine if prostate cancer has spread to other organs.
- GE Predicts $500M Tariff Impact: GE HealthCare expects the Trump Administration’s tariffs to reduce its annual earnings by $500M in 2025. GE adjusted its full-year earnings guidance downward to account for the impact of tariffs on its medical equipment business, which relies heavily on overseas manufacturing. The forecast assumes that current tariff levels on China, Mexico, and Canada remain in place. GE HealthCare also released first-quarter financial numbers that saw revenues grow 3% ($4.8B) with net income rising 51% to $564M.
- ACR Sets Up Supply Chain Response Team: In related news, the ACR is telling radiology professionals to notify the group’s Quick Response Team of any supply chain interruptions they experience that could affect patient care. Products at risk of supply chain interruptions include radiology-specific drugs and contrast media, radiopharmaceuticals, and scanner equipment, as well as general medical supplies like personal protective equipment.
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How to Standardize CT Images
The quality and appearance of CT scans can vary considerably. In this white paper from Riverain Technologies, find out how image normalization can standardize CT images, making them easier to analyze and interpret.
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Incorporating Digital Pathology in Your Enterprise Imaging Strategy
As digital pathology exams grow in size and complexity, healthcare organizations face increasing challenges. Attend this Mach7 Technologies webinar on May 8 to hear real-world experiences from the University of Michigan on how they unified radiology and pathology.
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Get Your Head Around AI for Neuroradiology
Check out the latest blog from Blackford on how advances in deep learning algorithms for neurology imaging are improving outcomes and easing the burden on radiologists.
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- Visit Philips at ISMRM 2025: Philips will be showcasing its AI-driven connected imaging, optimized workflows, and integrated clinical solutions for MRI at ISMRM 2025. See their conference highlights or drop by at booth #D41.
- Unprecedented Insights Made Possible with AI: With the largest normative dataset of whole-body imaging in the world, Prenuvo’s AI researchers partner with the best academic minds to understand – like never before – what “normal” aging means. Learn about their work today.
- Visit United Imaging at ISMRM 2025: United Imaging is reaching new clinical heights in MRI with new innovations like 5T MRI and its uAiFI technology. Visit the company at ISMRM 2025 at booth #A18 or attend one of its conference events.
- Top 3 Productivity Tools for Radiologists: Radiologists today face growing demands for speed, collaboration, and accuracy. Attend this May 8 webinar to learn from clinical and IT leaders from the University of Michigan Health – Sparrow and AGFA HealthCare as they share the top tools helping radiologists work smarter.
- Visit Kailo Medical at SIIM 2025: Learn about the latest synoptic reporting solutions by visiting Kailo Medical at booth #539 at SIIM 2025. Book an appointment today to find out how their technology can make radiology reporting easier while maximizing efficiency.
- Meet Merge at SIIM 2025: Merge puts your workspaces, clinicians, and imaging transformation into focus. Explore their market-leading solutions at SIIM 2025 at booth #632, or schedule your visit today.
- Aortic Stenosis AI Echo Assessment: In a first-of-its-kind study, AI echo from Us2.ai accurately quantified aortic stenosis severity with no human input beyond image acquisition. Learn more about this important research today.
- 3 Good Reasons to Add Mammography: There are three good reasons to add mammography services at your imaging site as providers expect higher demand for breast imaging services. Get the facts about mammography on this resource page from Siemens Healthineers.
- Presenting Unboxing AI: Check out CARPL’s video series, Unboxing AI, featuring experts discussing AI and its future in radiology. The next episode on May 8 features Ángel Alberich Bayarri of Quibim – reserve your seat today.
- Imaging Workflows that Actually Work: Not a fan of medical image exchange on discs? Then check out Clearpath and find out how it’s removing obstacles to better radiology workflow. Request a demo today.
- The Benefits of the Cloud for Enterprise Imaging: How are you preparing for the future of cloud-based enterprise imaging? In this downloadable e-book from Optum, learn about the benefits of cloud-based enterprise imaging and how to develop a strategy that works for you.
- What’s Next for AI for Cancer Detection? AI is transforming the fight against cancer by enabling faster and more accurate cancer detection. Read this article from DeepHealth to learn how the company is pioneering new ways to advance cancer screening and broader imaging-based care.
- AI for Hip Morphology Assessment: A new study validates the accuracy of Gleamer’s BoneMetrics AI solution for hip and pelvic assessment. BoneMetrics turned in high levels of accuracy and reproducibility – find out how it can simplify your daily and routine measurements.
- Connect with Calantic by Bayer at SIIM 2025: Visit Calantic by Bayer at SIIM 2025 to learn how they are helping clinicians leverage radiology AI to enhance the patient experience. See their schedule of presentations or book at meeting today at booth #231-235.
- The Future of Radiology: In this episode of The Radiology Report, Medality’s Daniel Arnold sits down with Marc Gosselin, MD, from Vision Radiology for a thought-provoking conversation on burnout, balance, and the future of radiology.
- 2 Questions about AI for Radiology Leaders: Are today’s radiology AI solutions solving the right problems? And are there other solutions available for AI of brain MRI? Read this article from SpinTech MRI to learn how their STAGE solution can optimize MRI utilization.
- Connect with Intelerad at SIIM 2025: Join Intelerad at booth #533 at SIIM 2025 to learn how they are redefining healthcare imaging with innovative solutions designed to provide a clear path to answers. Schedule your visit today.
- Achieve More with AI You Can Trust: Visit Microsoft at SIIM 2025 to experience how Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare can empower your workforce and unlock insights. Request a meeting or stop by at booth #314-316.
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