Reasons of Inappropriate Prescription of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Providing Solutions: from Specialists’ Point of View

Since the high rate of inappropriate MRI prescription has a significant financial burden on the health system, the specialists’ opinion, as the people engaged in prescribing such orders, would help the policymakers to solve the problem more efficiently. The present study investigates specialists' opinions about the reasons behind the inappropriate prescription of MRI in 2021.

Method and Materials: 

This study was exploratory-descriptive qualitative research. The interviews were semi-structured. They were all recorded. Then the interviews were coded and analyzed using MAXQD2022.

Sixteen specialists participated in the present study. The reasons for inappropriate prescription were classified into 3 subjects: physician-related, patient-related, and health system-related factors. The reason for the prescription part, the negative motivation of physicians, and the pressure of patients were focused on Developing and implementing indication-based guidelines by the insurance system and educating society presented as solutions

It seems the reasons for the inappropriate prescription of MRI are not considering the indications, the patients' pressure and the doctors' motivation to visit more patients and spend less time on physical examination. Induced demand of physicians is another reason. Experts suggested community education, indication-based insurance coverage, and increased MRI costs. Developing appropriate national guidelines for prescribing MRI and monitoring its implementation by the insurance system can be one of the best approaches to preventing inappropriate prescribing of MRI.