medical imaging is one of healthcare\'s fastest growing sectors so most everyone

Question

medical imaging is one of healthcare's fastest growing sectors so most everyone wants to get in on the action, including physicians. to illustrate imaging costs are medicares fastest growing service item in recent years they rose at three times the rate of other medical services, and the total spent on imaging servise exceeded $100 billion in 2008 one reason for this rapid increase is the ability of imaging to detect condition that previously required diagnostic surgery for detection but another reson colud be the financial incentives that make some doctors order more scans than are medically necesary.

at a recent meeting of cadiologists, neurologists, and oncologists, westwood imaging centers told doctors how they could get in on the boom. the deal works like this

DOCTORS SEND PATIENTS TO WESTWOOD FOR IMAGING SERVICE AND WESTWOOD CHARGES THE REFERRING PHYSICIAN A FLAT RATE PER SCAN.

1-DOES THIS CASE PRESENT AN ETHICAL ISSUE?

2-IF SO TO WICH PARTY (OR PARTIES)?

Explanation / Answer

1. The only ethical issue that may arise is if the Westwood imaging service is the only one the physicians can refer their patients to. Then the situation becomes a sort of monopoly for Westwood as physicians must go to them for those very important diagnostic services. If this is true and Westwood begins to charge high rates per scan then the physicians will be truly in trouble with their ability to run their medical offices. If they are not the only company then perhaps the situation would be more fair. The main key to consider here is to keep things diverse. That is you do not want to have just one supplier for imaging services for medical facilities which would negatively impact their practices, not to mention their sector of the market in the long run.

2. All of the physicians would be affected by this. Practically every since branch of medicine involves some sort of scanning of the human body to check for pathologies. Neurologist often search for weakened nerves with imaging devices while cardiologists search for smoke in the lungs of cancerous growths which may prove to be fatal in some causes although not all of them. These scanning devices are truly crucial and make invasive diagnostic surgery nearly obsolete in comparison to them.

Hope this helps, good luck.

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