CADTH to Help Address Medical Imaging Challenges Facing Canada

OTTAWA, September 25, 2015 — CADTH has launched an important initiative to help Canadian health care decision-makers provide timely and appropriate medical imaging services to patients.

As a first step, CADTH will update the Canadian Medical Imaging Inventory through a survey of health care professionals. The inventory captures information on how imaging equipment is being used, reveals service gaps, and informs effective planning. It was last updated by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) in 2012. CADTH will update the inventory by spring 2016, with subsequent updates occurring every two years.

With current data in hand, CADTH will then work with health care leaders, professional and clinical societies, and other stakeholders to identify and address critical barriers to the effective use of medical imaging. This will be done using CADTH’s Optimal Use methods, which may include a systematic review of clinical, economic, and patient evidence, and a review of legal, social, and ethical issues.

CADTH has developed significant expertise in assessing medical technologies, with more than 50 projects dealing specifically with medical imaging. Recent medical imaging reports have included an environmental scan on positron emission tomography (PET), a comparison of 1.5 and 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, and a study of the use of medical isotopes and alternatives for diagnostic imaging. CADTH reports often identify promising areas of collaboration and innovative approaches that can be shared across the provinces and territories. Through the development of decision aids, online resources, and educational materials, CADTH helps to enable the implementation of study findings.

The new medical imaging initiative will focus on computed tomography (CT), MRI, single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), SPECT/CT, PET/CT, and PET/MRI. These technologies are critical to diagnosing a vast array of illnesses and conditions, from cancer to internal injury. According to CIHI data, MRI exams in Canada more than doubled between 2004 and 2012, underscoring the growing reliance that clinicians place on these diagnostic tools.

With rapid growth comes the need to carefully measure and assess how well these technologies are delivering value and serving patient needs. Some key trends identified by clinicians and decision-makers in medical imaging include:

• significant differences in the rates of MRI and CT exams between different jurisdictions
• wait times that vary widely between jurisdictions, with some trending longer and some shorter
• patient perceptions that medical imaging represents the gold standard in diagnosis, and the impact that these perceptions may have on its use
• the need to better define “optimal use” to free up medical imaging resources and shorten wait times
• appropriate management of the use of medical imaging isotopes when supply is limited or disrupted
• the potential for “overdiagnosis” through incidental findings in imaging exams that may or may not merit further investigation
• patient safety concerns related to exposure to radiation.

The medical imaging initiative launched September 14, 2015 builds on years of work already undertaken by CIHI and CADTH. Given the importance of medical imaging technology to the health of Canadians, it will be an ongoing priority for CADTH.

About CADTH

CADTH is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides Canada’s health care decision-makers with objective evidence to help make informed decisions about the optimal use of drugs and medical devices in our health care system (www.cadth.ca).

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For more information:

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