Evidence-Based Medicine on Radiology: Economic and Regulatory Impact

Abstract

Over the last few decades, medical care has grown from a relatively small sector of the worldwide economy to one of the most dominant sectors, with no end in sight to its unsustainable growth. Much of this can be attributed to an explosion in technology, which is now far beyond what an individual practitioner can master. However, a large percentage of costs are often attributed to inefficiencies of the system; health care still behaves much like a cottage industry, built upon loosely networked individual practitioners whose practices are both highly variable and opaque, resulting in inconsistent, fragmented care. Growth in health-care costs and dissatisfaction with service and outcomes have pushed the debate into the public sphere like never before. Subsequently, the issue of health-care reform has become a subject of bitter partisan politics. At the same time, worldwide recession and mounting public debts have prompted austerity measures, limiting the resources available for the provision and improvement of medical care. There has never been a greater need to build systems that efficiently incorporate evidence-based care into care processes.