Imaging turnaround times for Medicare beneficiaries increased 33.4% in 2024, continuing a decade-long trend that has seen delays grow 177% since 2014, with researchers warning that radiologists may be operating at maximum capacity despite operational efforts to mitigate the increases.
- Imaging turnaround times rose 33.4% in 2024, a slower increase than 2023's 46.2% but continuing an upward trend
- Overall turnaround times increased 177% between 2014 and 2024, with 92% of that increase occurring between 2022-2024
- Ultrasound saw the largest 2024 increase at 49.1%, while MR had the smallest at 4.5%
- Radiologists may be operating at or near maximum capacity, with workforce shortages and rising imaging demand outpacing operational solutions
- Researchers recommend future studies examine how these delays impact patients, providers, and healthcare systems
Continuing a long-term trend, turnaround time for imaging studies increased in 2024 for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries, albeit at a slightly slower pace than in 2023, according to research published August 4 in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
A team from the Harvey L. Neiman Policy Institute led by first author Alexandra Drake, and Eric Christensen, PhD, updated prior research published earlier this year to include 2024 Medicare claims data. In that study, the researchers found that turnaround times had increased by 113% between 2014 and 2023. Furthermore, 87% of that increase took place during 2021-2023.
The new data show that turnaround times increased 177% between 2014 and 2024, with 92% of the total increase occurring between 2022 and 2024: 12.3% in 2022, 46.2% in 2023, and 33.4% in 2024.
“With radiologists already in short supply, projected shortages in physician supply and rising imaging utilization, these results continue to raise concerns about the ability of the current and future radiologist workforce to meet the growing imaging demand in a timely manner,” the authors wrote. “Why the magnitude of the increase was smaller in 2024 than in 2023 cannot be determined from this study. It is possible that practice leaders implemented various measures and made operational changes, such as moonlighting, reactivating retired staff, extending work hours, and increasing weekend coverage, to mitigate the rise in turnaround times.”
However, such actions weren’t enough to prevent further increases in turnaround times.
“As such, these findings support the possibility that the radiology workforce may be operating at or near maximum capacity, particularly if additional operational efforts have not been sufficient to fully mitigate turnaround time increases,” they wrote.
In comparison with 2023, the 2024 increases in turnaround times were highest for ultrasound (49.1%) and x-ray (35.4%). The lowest increases were found in MR (4.5%) and CT (11.6%).
“While we cannot determine from this analysis why the increases differed by modality, it is logical that radiologists would prioritize MR and CT,” the authors wrote. “Differences in work relative value units favor radiologists prioritizing MR and CT over XR. Additionally, there may be differences in the relative requirement for prompt follow up for oncology and surgery patients to have their imaging (most commonly by CT followed by MR) prioritized for interpretation before the patient’s next office visit.”
Overall, turnaround times increased from 2014 to 2024 by 381% for CT, 278% for MR, 267% for ultrasound, 126% for x-ray, 90.6% for MRI, 94.1% for x-ray, and 94.3% for ultrasound compared with 2014.
The researchers noted that future studies should examine how these delays affect patients, providers, and healthcare systems.
The full study can be found here.
