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Medicare data suggest some hospitals regionally and nationwide overused chest CT scans on patients in 2008, exposing them needlessly to a double dose of radiation while increasing the overall cost of health care.
The figures, first reported by the New York Times, are the most recent available. As reported by the Times, that data showed 4 percent of patients received double chest CT scans at Springfield Regional Medical Center, below the national average of 5.4 percent.
In contrast, 19 percent of patients received double chest CT scans at Greene Memorial Hospital, the highest rate in the region. Grandview Medical Center gave double scans to 17 percent of its chest CT patients.
The hospitals, both part of Kettering Health Network, had 2008 rates more than three times the national average.
Double scans typically are performed in quick succession, both with and without an iodine contrast dye.
Ruth Woosley, director of imaging services for Community Mercy Health Partners, which oversees Springfield Regional Medical Center, said double CT scans are rarely appropriate.
“In the majority of cases, the diagnoses that we get from the CT scan of the chest can be accomplished with one CT scan, either with the contrast or without the contrast,” she said.
For at least the last four years, CMHP’s practice has been to do one CT scan, but not both, she said. If both scans are ordered for a patient, the radiologist will consult with the referring physician, she said.
Still, she said she would like to see the 4 percent rate as reported by the Times decrease.
“We always want the best patient safety and quality,” she said. “Any overexposure of radiations is a safety and health concern for all our patients.”
While a CT scan gives a high dose of radiation, Woosley said it would take multiple and consecutive CT scans to have any adverse health effects on a patient.
In a prepared statement, Kettering Health Network said its rate of double chest CT scans has declined sharply in recent years. “When the numbers and information indicate an opportunity for improvement in patient care, our clinicians act upon it,” said Chris Turner, vice president of clinical quality for Kettering Health Network.
The New York Times found the rate of patients receiving two chest CT scans in succession exceeded 80 percent at some U.S. hospitals. It found the rate was typically less than 1 percent at major university teaching hospitals.
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