Recent study findings address an issue policymakers have been raising for years: Regional variation in imaging costs is part of an overall increase in healthcare spending, they say, and curbing geographic variations in healthcare service delivery should be a key effort. However, using geographical patterns as a guide—rather than evaluating the whole picture of how health services are provided across the U.S.—may not actually make healthcare more efficient. J. Michael McWilliams, associate professor of health care policy, led the research.
