County-Level Population Economic Status and Medicare Imaging Resource Consumption.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Health Economics
• Medical Imaging Utilization

Background:

• Medicare imaging resource consumption shows significant geographic variation.
• Understanding the socioeconomic determinants of healthcare resource use is crucial for policy development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the relationship between county-level economic status and Medicare beneficiary imaging resource consumption.
• To investigate geographic variations in Medicare imaging utilization and costs.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 2013 Medicare fee-for-service data for imaging utilization and costs.
• Employed County Health Rankings data for socioeconomic status measures.
• Conducted multivariate regression analyses to identify associations.

Main Results:

• County-level Medicare imaging utilization varied 5.3-fold, and costs varied 14.1-fold.
• Higher unemployment rates were independently associated with increased imaging events and costs.
• Higher uninsured rates were independently associated with increased imaging costs.

Conclusions:

• Medicare imaging utilization and costs exhibit substantial county-level variability.
• Socioeconomic factors in the non-Medicare population are independently linked to Medicare imaging resource use.
• Future strategies to optimize imaging use should incorporate local socioeconomic influences.