Medical imaging rates continue to rise in U.S. and Canada

A study of more than 135 million imaging exams in the U.S. and Canada finds that people are getting scanned at high rates. Some 30% of medical imaging is estimated to be unnecessary, and the practice can drive up health care costs and overdiagnoses. In the new study, researchers looked at imaging conducted between 2000 and 2016 and found that with the exception of nuclear medicine imaging, rates for other methods increased. The 2016 rate for CT scans and MRIs in the U.S. was more than double the 2000 rate. Over the same time frame, MRI scans in Ontario, Canada, increased nearly sevenfold. Although the rates increased more slowly in recent years, the researchers say it’s unclear whether all the imaging was appropriate or yielded better patient outcomes.