The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on diagnostic imaging services in Australia

Sreedharan, Subhashaan; Mian, Mustafa; McArdle, David John Tobias; Rhodes, Alexander

doi:10.1111/1754-9485.13291

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(80 reference statements)

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“…Nuclear medicine was the modality most impacted. This is less than the data obtained from Medicare reported by Sreedharan et al [ 12 ], who found that general radiography and ultrasound were most impacted, while computed tomography and nuclear medicine services were less affected. It was unclear whether paediatric data were included in their analysis[ 12 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

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Imaging volumes during COVID-19: A Victorian health service experience

Pinson

Diep

Krishnan

et al. 2022

WJR

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BACKGROUND The World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic on March 11, 2020. While globally, the relative caseload has been high, Australia’s has been relatively low. During the pandemic, radiology services have seen significant changes in workflow across modalities and a reduction in imaging volumes. AIM To investigate differences in modality imaging volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic across a large Victorian public health network. METHODS A retrospective analysis from January 2019 to December 2020 compared imaging volumes across two periods corresponding to the pandemic’s first and second waves. Weekly volumes across patient class, modality and mobile imaging were summed for periods: wave 1 (weeks 11 to 16 for 2019; weeks 63 to 68 for 2020) and wave 2 (weeks 28 to 43 for 2019; weeks 80 to 95 for 2020). Microsoft Power Business Intelligence linked to the radiology information system was used to mine all completed examinations. RESULTS Summed weekly data during the pandemic’s first wave showed the greatest decrease of 29.8% in adult outpatient imaging volumes and 46.3% in paediatric emergency department imaging volumes. Adult nuclear medicine demonstrated the greatest decrease of 37.1% for the same period. Paediatric nuclear medicine showed the greatest decrease of 47.8%, with angiography increasing by 50%. The pandemic’s second wave demonstrated the greatest decrease of 23.5% in adult outpatient imaging volumes, with an increase of 18.2% in inpatient imaging volumes. The greatest decrease was 28.5% in paediatric emergency department imaging volumes. Nuclear medicine showed the greatest decrease of 37.1% for the same period. Paediatric nuclear medicine showed the greatest decrease of 36.7%. Mobile imaging utilisation increased between 57.8% and 135.1% during the first and second waves. A strong correlation was observed between mobile and non-mobile imaging in the emergency setting (Spearman’s correlation coefficient = -0.743, P = 0.000). No correlation was observed in the inpatient setting (Spearman’s correlation coefficient = -0.059, P = 0.554). CONCLUSION Nuclear medicine was most impacted, while computed tomography and angiography were the least affected by the pandemic. The impact was less during the pandemic’s second wave. Mobile imaging shows continuous growth during both waves.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…To our knowledge, little is known about the severity of impact on radiology volumes in Australia. While overall Australian imaging volumes were analysed through Medicare, no institutional experience has been presented[ 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imaging volumes during COVID-19: A Victorian health service experience

Pinson

Diep

Krishnan

et al. 2022

WJR

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“…2,3,5 The only exception was during 2020, during which there was a decrease in imaging services attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown measures. 15 Total imaging services as a proportion of total Medicare services also steadily increased over the study period. This suggests that the growth in imaging services is outpacing the growth in the overall healthcare demand in Australia, further demonstrating the increasing utility of radiology in the evolving practice of clinical medicine.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Rising use of diagnostic imaging in Australia: An analysis of Medicare‐funded radiology services between 2000 and 2021

Lu,

Mian,

Yii

et al. 2023

J Med Imag Rad Onc

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IntroductionThe use of diagnostic imaging services is increasing worldwide. This has important impacts on healthcare resource allocation and potential risks to the population. This study aimed to quantify trends in medical imaging in Australia over the past two decades.MethodsData were extracted from the Australian Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) between 2000 and 2021. Simple linear regression analyses were performed to assess changes in absolute utilisation and utilisation rate per 100,000 population of total imaging services as well as by each imaging modality. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess changes in total imaging services as a proportion of total Medicare services over time. Chi‐squared test was used to assess for change in modality composition of imaging services.ResultsThere were 436,255,500 imaging studies performed between 2000 and 2021. The absolute utilisation of total imaging services increased annually by an average of 864,404 (95% CI: 808,235–920,573, p < 0.001). For each consecutive year, the proportion of total Medicare services attributed to total imaging services increased by 0.01% (95% CI: 0.01–0.01, p < 0.01). There was also a statistically significant increase in the utilisation rates of imaging services per 100,000 population for each imaging modality. The number of imaging services per radiologist increased on average by 74 (95% CI: 26–122, p < 0.05) annually.ConclusionThe utilisation of diagnostic imaging services has increased in Australia between 2000 and 2021, outpacing the population growth, total healthcare services, and the radiologist workforce.

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“…Most guidelines for performing PET-CT during the pandemic stated that 18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET-CT for staging or therapy response assessment should not be postponed in patients without known active COVID-19 infection [ 19 ]. In fact, the workload in nuclear medicine departments was less affected by the initial worldwide lockdown (between March and May 2020) than other imaging modalities, with rebound resurgence in scan numbers in the following months [ 20 ]. A study conducted in 7 US medical centers found that PET-CT specifically was consistently the least impacted imaging modality, with a drop of 16% in patient output, more pronounced in centers located at pandemic outbreak locations [ 21 ].…”

Section: Challenges In Imaging Patients With Hematological Malignanci...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Imaging of Hematological Patients in the Era of COVID-19

et al. 2022

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The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), resulted in changes in management and imaging routines for patients with hematological malignancies. Treating physicians had to familiarize themselves with a new disease, with distinct imaging manifestations, sometimes overlapping with other infections prevalent in this patient population. In some aspects, infected hematological patients might exhibit a different disease course, and routine imaging in asymptomatic hematological patients may result in unexpected COVID-19 findings, implying covert infection, that should be further explored. Furthermore, some complications of hematological diseases and treatments may present with findings similar to COVID-19 manifestations, and treating physicians must consider both possibilities in the differential diagnosis. In this review, we aim to present the influence the COVID-19 pandemic had on hematological malignancies imaging.

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The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on diagnostic imaging services in Australia

Cited by 12 publications

References 23 publications

Imaging volumes during COVID-19: A Victorian health service experience

Imaging volumes during COVID-19: A Victorian health service experience

Rising use of diagnostic imaging in Australia: An analysis of Medicare‐funded radiology services between 2000 and 2021

Imaging of Hematological Patients in the Era of COVID-19

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