Implementation of a Radiology Utilization Dashboard Yields Significant Cost Savings in a Large Primary Care Network

unknown but substantial fraction of imaging examinations are unnecessary and do not positively contribute to patient care" [4]. Bernardy and colleagues concur and suggest that when imaging technologies are "used incorrectly because of inappropriate economic incentives, unnecessary patient demands, or provider concerns for medical-legal risk, imaging costs can increase without increasing diagnostic yields" [1]. One of the underlying causes leading to overutilization and unnecessary costs may be unwanted variation in practice patterns. Perbeneficiary Medicare spending for imaging varies widely by region [2]. In prior work, we demonstrated that significant variation in imaging utilization exists even within practice groups, with some providers ordering significantly more diagnostic tests than their colleagues [5]. Reducing such unwanted imaging variation by