The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) commended a report by the American College of Radiology’s Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute titled “Repeat Medical Imaging: A Classification System for Meaningful Policy Analysis and Research.” The report establishes clinically-based guidelines for evaluating appropriate imaging procedures so as to eliminate ambiguous definitions and promote patient access to life-saving technologies.
“MITA applauds the work of the Neiman Health Policy Institute in developing this decision-making framework to help determine the effectiveness and appropriateness of repeat medical imaging tests,” said Gail Rodriguez, executive director of MITA. “Too often in Washington, misperceptions drive decision making. In this case, a misperception of what ‘repeat imaging’ implies, rather than the actual facts of individual patient cases, often leads policy analysts to respond with the wrong solution.”
The report establishes a decision-making framework that will concretely define the parameters by which lawmakers, insurance companies and medical professionals categorize “repeat imaging.” The report suggests the lack of clinically-based guidelines has spawned misguided notions that “repeat imaging” is synonymous with “wasteful” or “inappropriate imaging,” thereby disregarding necessary and appropriate medical imaging procedures.
