Report Highlights Seismic Changes from Medical Imaging
Innovations lead to patient-centered changes that drive utilization growth
From enabling modern cardiovascular care to virtually eliminating exploratory surgery, medical imaging has radically changed the way medicine is practiced and how medical delivery is structured. These patient-centered changes are driving much of the utilization growth in medical imaging.
These are the conclusion of a report from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) that details the impact of medical imaging on nearly all aspects of health care delivery.
Entitled "Changing the Landscape: How Medical Imaging Has Transformed Health Care in the U.S.," the report finds that advances in medical imaging have "dramatically changed how physicians measure, manage, diagnose, treat, and even think about medical illnesses and conditions."
- Imaging has brought about new approaches to diagnosing and treating stroke, heart disease, and cancer, among others, according to the report.
- Better visualization and information from imaging have also led more types of physicians to use imaging in more clinical situations, for more diseases, and for more patients.
This broad applicability of imaging is one of the primary factors in increased utilization of imaging, according to the report. "To ascribe this growth primarily to financial motives of medical providers ignores these deep, patient-centered changes," said the report.
NEMA also released a fact sheet on how medical imaging transformed cardiovascular care. Among the conclusions:
- Imaging advances have made major contributions over the past 30 years in the significant improvements in mortality and morbidity from heart disease. This has come from enhanced screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up monitoring made possible by imaging.
- Medical imaging has made modern stroke therapy possible through early, accurate diagnosis and new treatment options. Among other things, imaging enables physicians to differentiate between the primary types of strokes, thereby guiding treatment decisions ranging from surgery to clot-busting drugs.
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