Geographical distribution and accessibility to cardiac CT readers in the United States: A snapshot from the 2022 medicare analysis

IF 5.8 2区医学 Q1 CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS

Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography Pub Date : 2025-07-01 DOI:10.1016/j.jcct.2025.06.011

Ahmad El Yaman , Alaaeddine El Ghazawi , Ahmed Sayed , Maria Alwan , Asim Shaikh , Mahmoud Al Rifai , Leslee J. Shaw , Maros Ferencik , Mouaz H. Al-Mallah

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Abstract

Background

Cardiac computed tomography (CCT) is an increasingly important modality for the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular diseases. However, disparities in the availability of trained CCT readers across the United States limit equal access.

Objective

This study examined the geographical distribution and characteristics of CCT readers who billed Medicare for CCT in 2022.

Methods

Data from the 2022 Medicare Part B and Medicare Doctors and Clinicians datasets were analyzed to determine the number, specialties, gender, year of graduation, and geographical locations of CCT readers, and the volume of scans.

Results

A total of 242,538 scans were billed in 2022, of which 194,895 (80.4 %) were performed by 3,179 CCT readers interpreting 11 or more studies. Sixty-eight percent of readers were radiologists and 32 % were cardiologists. Significant geographic disparities were observed in reader density, with some regions such as Puerto Rico having as few as 1.31 readers per million Medicare beneficiaries, while the District of Columbia had the highest density (147.99 per million). Female representation among CCT readers remained low, with women accounting for 14 % of readers. In addition, approximately 15.7 million US residents were located more than 50 miles away from the nearest CCT reader.

Conclusion

The findings highlight significant geographical disparities in access to qualified CCT readers, with millions of citizens living more than 50 miles from the nearest reader. Additionally, there is a marked imbalance in female representation among CCT readers.

Abstract Image

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美国心脏CT阅读器的地理分布和可及性：2022年医疗保险分析的快照。

背景：心脏计算机断层扫描（CCT）在心血管疾病的诊断和治疗中越来越重要。然而，在美国训练有素的CCT读者的可用性的差异限制了平等获取。目的：本研究考察了2022年为CCT支付医疗保险费用的CCT读者的地理分布和特征。方法：分析2022年医疗保险B部分和医疗保险医生和临床医生数据集的数据，以确定CCT读者的数量、专业、性别、毕业年份、地理位置和扫描量。结果：2022年共进行了242,538次扫描，其中由3179名CCT阅读器执行了194,895次（80.4%），解释了11项或更多的研究。68%的读者是放射科医生，32%是心脏病专家。读者密度存在显著的地理差异，一些地区，如波多黎各，每100万医疗保险受益人中只有1.31名读者，而哥伦比亚特区的密度最高（每100万人中有147.99名读者）。女性在CCT读者中的比例仍然很低，女性占读者的14%。此外，大约有1570万美国居民距离最近的CCT阅读器超过50英里。结论：研究结果突出了在获得合格的CCT阅读器方面存在显著的地理差异，数百万公民居住在距离最近的阅读器50英里以上的地方。此外，女性在CCT读者中的比例明显失衡。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS-RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MEDICAL IMAGING

CiteScore

7.50

自引率

14.80%

发文量

212

审稿时长

40 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography is a unique peer-review journal that integrates the entire international cardiovascular CT community including cardiologist and radiologists, from basic to clinical academic researchers, to private practitioners, engineers, allied professionals, industry, and trainees, all of whom are vital and interdependent members of our cardiovascular imaging community across the world. The goal of the journal is to advance the field of cardiovascular CT as the leading cardiovascular CT journal, attracting seminal work in the field with rapid and timely dissemination in electronic and print media.