Radiologist warns

MRI waiting times: “Too few devices in Austria”

The need for MRI examinations has increased.

(Bild: © Gorodenkoff - stock.adobe.com)

Back in 2017, a shortage of equipment led to long waiting times for MRI and CT examinations. The situation is currently tense again, as radiologist Franz Frühwald warns: "We have too little equipment capacity in Austria," says the technician. The number of cash register devices is limited by the large device plan. Although new tomographs have shortened examination times, they are needed for more and more diagnoses.

Problems have recently been reported in the media, particularly with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in Vienna. According to the online waiting time query of the social insurance company, patients have to wait up to around 60 days for an MRI examination at diagnostic centers in the Austrian capital. However, the portal also shows similar waiting times for institutes in Vorarlberg, for example.

In 2017, the then Minister of Health Pamela Rendi-Wagner (SPÖ) introduced measures to ensure computer tomography (CT) examinations within a maximum of ten working days and MRI examinations within a maximum of 20 working days, faster in urgent cases.

The situation for patients improved as a result. The situation was different back then, reported Frühwald. All institutes had capped contracts and were no longer remunerated once the previous year's turnover had been reached, which meant that the technically possible capacities were not exhausted.

(Bild: FL)

Increased demand for MRI examinations
"We now have a situation where all equipment outside of hospitals is working at 100% capacity," said the head of a diagnostic institute in St. Pölten. More and more medical treatment guidelines are calling for an MRI if certain illnesses or injuries are suspected, because only one in ten possible diagnoses can be identified on an X-ray, for example, explained Frühwald on the increased need for such examinations. There is also a shortage of staff, "which is currently making the situation difficult and leading to further waiting times".

Examination time reduced from 90 to 15 minutes
"We won't be able to solve the waiting time problem by speeding up the devices," the university lecturer continued. In the early days of MR technology, there were "timeslots" of 90 minutes per patient, now we are down to ten to 15 minutes, said Joachim Bogner, Managing Director of medical equipment manufacturer Siemens Healthineers Austria. Innovations, including the use of artificial intelligence, have made it possible to shorten the examination time without compromising the quality of the body images. This helps to examine more patients per device, but "of course, technology is not the only panacea," said Bogner.

"The large-scale equipment plan is to blame," Frühwald noted. This is where social insurance and the state government decide "where to put something", the physician said, calling politicians to account. The decision criteria are "very difficult to understand". The result is that there is a "dramatic" lack of equipment outside of hospitals, "which would be needed, particularly in the MRI crisis, to deal with this situation", said Frühwald.

Patients are increasingly paying for examinations themselves
Private MRI and CT devices are not covered by the large-scale equipment plan, but the examination costs are not covered by social insurance either. "It is by no means the aim to ensure that patients pay anything extra or have to cover the costs at all," emphasized Frühwald. However, it can be observed that the service is increasingly being offered privately and that patients who are seriously ill are paying for the MRI themselves, said the specialist.

Lead apron as radiation protection has had its day
The radiation exposure of CT machines has been reduced over the years, as has that of all other X-ray machines. For this reason, the Professional Association for Radiology Technology in Austria recently launched a campaign to inform people that the classic lead apron for protection against radiation has largely had its day. With the exception of X-rays taken by dentists, they are largely dispensed with during radiological examinations. People have been used to wearing lead aprons for 50 years and now it is important to make them realize that they are no longer necessary, said Frühwald.