Are family physicians ordering too many lumbar spine MRI scans?

Number of Lumbar Spine MRIs Questioned (Orthopedics This Week)
Family physicians are ordering too many lumbar spine MRI scans, according to a Canadian study reported March 26 by Crystal Phend, senior staff writer for MedPage Today. Only 34% of lower back scans ordered by family physicians were considered appropriate compared with 58% ordered by physicians in other specialties. Derek Emery, M.D. and his colleagues at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, found that when MRIs were analyzed by an expert panel, 29% of the MRI referrals to two large teaching hospitals were deemed inappropriate and...