title: Unnecessary magnetic resonance imaging of hips: an economic burden to patients and the healthcare system.
abstract: Patients referred to orthopedists for hip pain due to arthritis may already have MRI studies ordered by their referring physicians despite plain radiographs being sufficient in most cases. Hence, we prospectively evaluated every patient referred to our institution during a 36-month period to identify the number of new patients with hip osteoarthritis who had an unnecessary MRI, the additional costs of these MRIs, and the extrapolated cost to the United States healthcare system during the next 10years. Overall, 15.4% of the patients presented with unnecessary MRIs, approximately, 330 to 440.5 million dollars may be spent on unnecessary hip MRIs in this patient population in America. We believe that referring physicians should not simultaneously order a radiograph and an MRI to evaluate hip pain.
authors.affiliation: Center for Joint Preservation and Replacement, Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Kimona
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Issa
authors.affiliation: Center for Joint Preservation and Replacement, Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Julio J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Jauregui
authors.affiliation: Center for Joint Preservation and Replacement, Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McElroy
authors.affiliation: Center for Joint Preservation and Replacement, Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Samik
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Center for Joint Preservation and Replacement, Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Bhaveen H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Kapadia
authors.affiliation: Center for Joint Preservation and Replacement, Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mont
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018771:Arthralgia / Q000191:economics / Q000209:etiology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015207:Osteoarthritis, Hip / Q000191:economics / Q000601:surgery*; D014481:United States; D019564:Unnecessary Procedures / Q000191:economics*
keywords: economic burden; healthcare costs; hip arthritis; hip osteoarthritis; unnecessary MRI