title: Curbing the Urge to Image.
abstract: Health care costs in the US have grown rapidly over the past several decades. As a result, there has been increasing interest in strategies to contain health care costs, without sacrificing the quality of medical care. While many factors contribute to rising costs, one major contributor to health care expenditure is diagnostic imaging. In this article, we address the growth of diagnostic imaging, the financial and clinical adverse effects of over-utilization, and discuss a variety of strategies to encourage appropriate use of diagnostic testing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo.
authors.forename: Patricia E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Litkowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.
authors.forename: Gerald W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Smetana
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.
authors.forename: Mark L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Zeidel
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo. Electronic address: mblancha@dom.wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Melvin S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Blanchard
mesh_terms: D020000:Decision Support Systems, Clinical; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000191:economics*; D017048:Health Care Costs; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D000069342:Medical Overuse / Q000191:economics; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D014481:United States
keywords: Diagnostic tests; Health care costs; Health care policy; High value care; Imaging