Researchers from University of Virginia Describe Findings in Managed Care (Trends in the Concentration of Interventional Radiology Work Among Radiologists in the United States: Analysis of Medicare Claims Data, 2008-2023): Managed Care

2026 JUN 26 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Researchers detail new data in Managed Care. According to news reporting originating from Charlottesville, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “To characterize longitudinal trends in the distribution of interventional radiology (IR) work across radiologists to determine if work is concentrating among a smaller radiologist subset. A retrospective, repeated cross-sectional analysis (2008-2023) of Medicare claims from a 5% sample of fee-for-service beneficiaries was used to identify radiology services.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from the University of Virginia, “Radiologists were identified using Medicare Data on Provider Practice and Specialty data and workload was classified as IR-related or non-IR-related using validated methodology. Radiologists were categorized by the proportion of IR-related work each year. Multivariable logistic regression evaluated associations between IR-workload concentration and radiologist and practice characteristics and year. A total of 476,688 radiologist-years representing 46,533 unique radiologists were included. Radiologists who were male, aged 35-44, and in practices that are metropolitan, multi-specialty, and with 1-9 radiologists were the most likely to perform a majority IR work (>50%). The proportion of radiologists performing some (>0%) IR-related work declined from 66.9% in 2008 to 49.6% in 2023. Among those with IR-related work, the proportion with majority (>50-100%) IR-related work increased from 12.6% to 18.5%, and the proportion with super-majority workloads (>90-100%) increased from 4.1% to 8.8%. These trends were consistent across various radiologist and practice characteristics. For the 2020-2023 period, radiologists had higher odds of super-majority IR workloads versus the 2008-2011 period (odds ratio, 1.65; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-2.46).”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “IR work has become increasingly concentrated among a smaller subset of radiologists indicating that a growing number of IRs are practicing primarily in their specialty as practice models evolve.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Trends in the Concentration of Interventional Radiology Work Among Radiologists in the United States: Analysis of Medicare Claims Data, 2008-2023. Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, 2026:108913. Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology can be contacted at: Elsevier Science Inc, Ste 800, 230 Park Ave, New York, NY 10169, USA.

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Luke R. Wilkins, Professor, Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. Additional authors for this research include Alexandra R. Drake, Elizabeth Y. Rula, Richard Duszak, Nicole A. Lamparello, Minhajuddin Khaja and Eric W. Christensen.

Publisher contact information for the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology is: Elsevier Science Inc, Ste 800, 230 Park Ave, New York, NY 10169, USA.

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