Managing Radiology

Recently a friend of mine injured his shoulder. He asked me what I thought he should do and after  brief physical examination I suggested he go to a physio for treatment. There did not seem to be any indication of instability, bony tenderness or signs of serious injury. He instead went to his GP who suggested a shoulder x-ray, which, not surprisingly turned out negative for any fractures. So I was very interested to read that in the USA there are now companies that manage radiology referrals, essentially screening them to check that the referral is appropriate.

There is a good article here explaining the advantages of radiology benefit management.