More scans mean more radiation exposure, longer waits, and rising costs, especially for people who visit ERs frequently or lack regular primary care. Hospitals balance the need to rule out serious problems with pressures around liability, patient expectations, and limited time. These forces shape how technology is used across communities, affecting who gets scanned and what follow-up care looks like.
Understanding why head CT use doubled can point to smarter choices that protect health and widen access to good care. Learning how clinicians decide when a scan will change treatment, which alternatives work, and how follow-up is managed connects this trend to human potential. Click through to explore the study and see what it reveals about safer, fairer emergency care and what that means for families and clinicians.
Use of head CT scans in U.S. emergency departments has more than doubled over the past 15 years, a new study says. Nearly 16 million head CT scans were ordered by ERs in 2022, up from under 8 million in 2007, researchers reported Nov. 17 in the journal Neurology.”Head CT…
