Diagnostic radiologists see the most unique Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries each year of any specialty, according to a recent study form the Harvey L. Neiman Policy Institute.
The study compared 56 specialties on Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries in 2013 and found diagnostic radiologists served an average of 3,150 beneficiaries annually, more than any other specialty. Cardiologists, cardiac electrophysiologists, dermatologists and urologists rounded out the top five. Interventional radiologists ranked No. 8.
"All too often, radiology is thought of as a non-patient facing profession. This single snapshot of imaging utilization demonstrates radiologists to be leaders in current patient care orchestration," lead author Kristina Hoque, MD, PhD, a neuroradiology fellow at Los Angeles-based University of Southern California, said in a press release.
The study is based on the Medicare Physician and Other Supplier Public Use File.
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