$1 billion a year on brain scans but most not needed

What a Headache: $1 Billion in Brain Scans
NBC News
BY JONEL ALECCIA


U.S. headache sufferers are racking up nearly a $1 billion a year on brain scans — and the vast majority of them are probably unnecessary, a new analysis finds.

About one in every eight visits to a doctor for an uncomplicated headache or migraine from 2007 to 2010 resulted in the patient getting an MRI or a CT scan, according to a study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.

And the number of imaging procedures is going up, not down, nearly tripling from 5.1 percent to 14.7 of all visits, despite national guidelines that recommend against routine use. Experts say that brain scans detect serious problems in only a fraction — 1 percent to 3 percent — of all headache cases.

That makes doctors suspect that patient demand, not actual need, may be pushing the scans that drive up the nation’s health care costs.

“The number one reason physicians give for ordering the scans is patient reassurance,” said Dr. Brian Callaghan, the University of Michigan Health System assistant professor of neurology who led the study. “A billion dollars is a lot for patient reassurance.”

In addition to boosting costs, unnecessary scans expose patients to potentially harmful radiation and can result in false positives that lead to unnecessary treatment and anxiety, Callaghan said.
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