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SURVEY: LARGE EMPLOYERs unaware of rising radiology costs, opportunity for savings NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 8, 2006) – Radiology costs are soaring, but many corporate benefit managers don't know it and have no formal plans for controlling these costs, according to a survey of benefit executives at large U.S. corporations conducted for MedSolutions, a radiology cost management consultant based in Franklin, Tenn. Only one-third of those surveyed were aware that radiology costs are growing faster than overall healthcare costs. According to HealthLeaders-InterStudy, radiology costs account for 10 cents of every health care dollar and are growing by 18-20% a year, costing health plans and their members billions of dollars that could be avoided. By contrast, drug costs are now growing at 10% or less. The survey found that nearly half of benefits managers believe radiology costs for their health plans are growing at a rate the same or slower than overall plan costs or don’t know their radiology costs. “Since perception usually lags reality, it will take a few more years for most large corporations to gain full awareness that radiology may be their No. 1 driver of healthcare cost increases," said Curt Thorne, MedSolutions chief executive officer. “Radiology is a component of cost where there are opportunities for significant savings.” Forty percent of the benefit managers surveyed said their company has some form of radiology management in place for controlling costs. Another 20% of companies surveyed expect to adopt a program within the next two years. A significant finding is that those companies with radiology management programs in place report these programs generate savings of 15-40%. “Employers are beginning to see that radiology management programs provide a significant savings opportunity for large companies worried about health insurance costs, and they are looking to their carriers and third party administrators for direction,” said Thorne. Three quarters of those surveyed say a health plan would be more appealing to them if radiology management were part of the deal, and 46% consider radiology management a “must have.” The survey found that prescription drug costs continue to hold mind space. Only 63% have radiology benefit costs broken out in reports from their health plans, compared to 91% that have drug benefit costs broken out. “I believe we’ll see an increasing focus on radiology similar to what we’ve seen in the arena of prescription drugs,” said Thorne. “Radiology trends are showing no signs of slowing down.”
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