The findings of a new Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute study published online in the Journal of the American College of Radiology confirm a major shift in practice at American hospitals regarding central venous procedures. Traditionally the domain of surgeons and anesthesiologists, more and more procedures involve radiologists, a change that the paper’s authors say has “profound health system implications.”
The Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute paper, “Central Venous Access: Evolving Roles of Radiology and other Specialties Nationally Over Two Decades,” was released online by the JACR. The authors examined Medicare claims data from 1992 to 2011 for procedures involving central venous catheters and long-term central venous medical devices.
The paper notes that the volume of central venous procedures among Medicare beneficiaries has grown significantly over the past two decades, with the number of long-term central venous device insertions increasing by 313% during that period. The researchers found that radiologists were once responsible for less than 1% of all long-term central venous devices, but now place more than 48% of tunneled catheters and 27% of all medication ports. In all hospital settings combined, radiology departments are placing three of every four peripherally inserted central catheters.
