Avon-based Magellan Health Services has instituted a new radiation safety program in response to a report from the New England Journal of Medicine.
The report linked the prevalence of CT scans with increased cancer risk. Magellan’s radiology management subsidiary National Imaging Associates has been watching this emerging issue and has now implemented a radiation safety program.
The program analyzes medical claims data to identify health plan members who are approaching or who have reached high levels of medical radiation exposure. It can then flag patients with particularly high levels of exposure to alert physicians who are looking to authorize CT scans and other imaging procedures. The goal of the program is to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure. Â
