Oops I Did It Again

Long after questions were first raised about the overuse of powerful CT scans, hundreds of hospitals across the country needlessly exposed patients to radiation by scanning their chests twice on the same day, according to federal records and interviews with researchers.

Performing two scans in succession is rarely necessary, radiologists say, yet some hospitals were doing that more than 80 percent of the time for their Medicare chest patients, according to Medicare outpatient claims from 2008, the most recent year available. The rate is typically less than 1 percent, or in some cases zero, at major university teaching hospitals.

I had been following this for a few days now.  I wanted to see if there was a counter from the medical community showing how this second scan might be necessary.  So far, they have been mum on the subject, which tells me they are not only guilty but knew they were padding bills.

In 2008, about 75,000 patients received double scans, one using iodine contrast to check blood flow, and one that did not. “If you do both, you bill for both,” Dr. Pentecost said.

Radiologists say one scan or the other is needed depending on the patient’s condition, but rarely both. Double scanning is also common among privately insured patients who tend to be younger.

Double scans expose patients to extra radiation while heaping millions of dollars in extra costs on an already overburdened Medicare program. A single CT scan of the chest is equal to about 350 standard chest X-rays, so two scans are twice that amount. 

I love Fark, and in this case their headline said it perfectly: Step 1: Overuse radiation on patients. Step 2: Bill Medicare. Step 3: Profit. Step 4: Get Cancer. Step 5: More Profit. 


I think it should be obvious that this type of behavior would be addressed and resolved, not continuing at the same pace years after someone noticed the problem.  Without any justification, we have hundreds of hospitals on the hook.  How many innocent patients have paid the price for their greed?  75,000 were exposed in a single year.  If someone took the time to dig, what else might they find?  If nothing else, the class action suit will be a good beginning.  


According to the Mayo Clinic's website, "it's a bad idea to request a CT scan unless you have symptoms that require one. No matter how small the risk, any exposure to radiation without a definite medical purpose just isn't appropriate." They also say that the benefits of the information outweighs the risk in the right circumstances, but these hospitals already had the data.  


They knew it was wrong and they never even slowed down.