In a move designed to provide balance and clarity in the growing debate over radiologists' income, the National Union of Private Radiologists (Fédération Nationale des Médecins Radiologues, FNMR) in France has issued a statement that the recent assessment of radiologist earnings by the Union of Professional Occupations' Regional Associations (Associations Régionales Agréées de l'Union des Professions Libérales, ARAPL) is biased.
The last fiscal assessment by ARAPL estimated 2015 radiologist earnings to be 197,600 euros, much higher than the 118,792 euros calculated by the independent pension fund for French doctors (Caisse autonome de retraite des médecins de France, CARMF) in 2014. The FNMR said the figure published by CARMF is based on income declarations by all doctors who practice independently. However, the sample used by ARAPL was based on 800 radiologists, just 13% of the total of 6,060 radiologists practicing independently in 2014.
As a result, the ARAPL report is once again biased and not representative of the reality and diversity of medical imaging centers in France, according to the FNMR. The organization emphasized that the price of medical imaging acts has not increased, and that, on the contrary, reimbursement for numerous acts and techniques has been reduced on several occasions in recent years. These reductions have reached 900 million euros in seven years, the FNMR said.
The FNMR said it's astonished an unrepresentative study has been published without the customary warning of its methodological limitations. It also urges readers of these publications not to confuse a partial study with the reality of the profession as a whole.
