Double Chest CT Scans Persist, New Data Show

Hospital use of double chest scans in 2009 barely changed from the previous year, despite clinical guidelines that say these CT tests should be used sparingly, according to newly released Medicare data.

In a double CT scan, patients get two imaging tests consecutively: one without dye and the other with dye injected into their veins. Medicare has identified the use of both tests on the same patient as a measure of overuse of medical imaging equipment, which is one of many reasons health care costs are growing so quickly.

The 2009 data, released on Medicare’s Hospital Compare website, show Medicare chest scan patients getting two CTs at the same time dropped only slightly to 5.2 percent of patients, from 5.4 percent of patients in 2008...