PRACTICE PATTERNS OF RADIOLOGISTS AND NONRADIOLOGISTS - NATIONWIDE MEDICARE DATA ON THE PERFORMANCE OF CHEST AND SKELETAL RADIOGRAPHY AND ABDOMINAL AND PELVIC SONOGRAPHY

OBJECTIVE. We assessed the relative roles of radiologists and nonradio logists in performing chest and skeletal radiography and nonobstetric abdominal and pelvic sonography. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Information wa s extracted from the 1993 Medicare file on procedure volume for 65 ima ging procedures. Claims were categorized by the specialty of the physi cian and the location (office or hospital) where the service was perfo rmed. RESULTS. In hospitals, radiologists performed virtually all ches t and skeletal radiography and nonobstetric abdominal and pelvic sonog raphy. In nonhospital settings such as offices or imaging centers, non radiologists performed approximately two thirds of the chest and spina l radiography and nonobstetric abdominal and pelvic sonography and lar ger percentages (78-86%) of the pelvic, hip, lower extremity, and uppe r extremity radiography. CONCLUSION. Although radiologists perform vir tually all chest and skeletal radiographs and abdominal and pelvic son ograms obtained in hospitals, they perform a distinct minority of thes e procedures in nonhospital settings. The data we present have certain implications for the amount of training nonradiologists receive in di agnostic imaging.