Utilization management in radiology, part 1: rationale, history, and current status.

Previous growth in the utilization of medical imaging has led to numerous efforts to reduce associated spending. Although these have historically been directed toward unit cost reductions, recent interest has emerged by various stakeholders in curbing inappropriate utilization. Radiology benefits managers have widespread market penetration and have been promoted largely by the payer community as effective mechanisms to curb increases in imaging volume. The provider community has tended to favor real-time order entry decision support systems. These have demonstrated comparable effectiveness to radiology benefits managers in early projects but currently have only limited market penetration. In this first of a two-part series, the rationale for the development of utilization management programs will be discussed and their history and current status reviewed.