Technical cost of radiologic examinations: analysis across imaging modalities

To determine the individual technical costs of general diagnostic radiographic, ultrasonographic (US), computed tomographic (CT), magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, and scintigraphic examinations and interventional radiology.

The Radiology Cost and Productivity Benchmarking Study method of the University HealthSystem Consortium, a cooperative group of academic medical centers, was modified and extended to the six imaging modalities in a tertiary care academic setting. Hospital billing and cost records were analyzed for fiscal year 1996. Costs were divided into labor and nonlabor categories and were allocated to individual imaging modalities on the basis of resources consumed. Physician cost and hospital overhead were not included. Unit costs were analyzed per technical relative value unit (RVU) and per examination.

The costs per technical RVU for diagnostic radiography, US, CT, MR imaging, scintigraphy, and interventional radiology were $65. 06, $28.74, $20.95, $17.69, $42.19, and $89.03, respectively. The technical costs per examination for diagnostic radiography, US, CT, MR imaging, scintigraphy, and interventional radiology were $41.92, $50.28, $112.32, $266.96, $196.88, and $692.60, respectively.

The method of unit cost analysis for individual imaging modalities was successfully tested in a tertiary care setting. The method should be adopted to allow cost comparison across many institutions, which will permit the promotion of best practices.