Frequency and Costs of Diagnostic Imaging in Office Practice — A Comparison of Self-Referring and Radiologist-Referring Physicians

Abstract

Physicians who do not refer their patients to radiologists for medical imaging use imaging examinations more frequently than do physicians who refer their patients to radiologists, and the charges are usually higher when the imaging is done by the self-referring physician. From our results it is not possible to determine which group of physicians uses imaging more appropriately.