Imaging Self-Referral Associated with Higher Costs and Limited Impact on Duration of Illness

9 Pages Posted: 21 Dec 2011

See all articles by Danny R. Hughes

Danny R. Hughes

Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute

Mythreyi Bhargavan

American College of Radiology

Jonathan Sunshine

American College of Radiology

Date Written: December 20, 2011

Abstract

Self-referral for imaging services occurs when a physician sends patients to receive an imaging procedure from a device that the physician owns or leases. Advocates argue that this shortens the duration of illness and lowers costs. For twenty common combinations of medical conditions and types of imaging, we evaluated the association between self-referral, duration of illness episode, and three measures of cost. Self-referral was associated with significantly and substantially higher episode costs for most of the combinations of medical conditions and imaging that we studied. There was no decrease in the length of illness, except when doctors self-referred patients to receive x-rays for a few common conditions. These findings indicate that except for x-rays, constraining the self-referral of imaging may be appropriate.

Keywords: physician self-referral, diagnostic imaging, health care costs, outcomes, duration of illness

JEL Classification: I1

Suggested Citation

Hughes, Danny R. and Bhargavan, Mythreyi and Sunshine, Jonathan, Imaging Self-Referral Associated with Higher Costs and Limited Impact on Duration of Illness (December 20, 2011). Health Affairs, Vol. 29, No. 12, 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1974965

Danny R. Hughes (Contact Author)

Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute ( email )

1891 Preston White Drive
Reston, VA 20191
United States

Mythreyi Bhargavan

American College of Radiology ( email )

1891 Preston White Dr
Reston, VA 20191
United States

Jonathan Sunshine

American College of Radiology ( email )

Reston, VA
United States

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