French radiology group calls for relevant political promises on health

Ahead of the presidential elections 2022, France's union of private radiologists, Fédération nationale des médecins radiologues (FNMR), has called for candidates to ensure that health is a priority in their manifestos.

In a statement released this week, the union underlined that medical imaging is at the heart of the patient care pathway. Private radiologists work both in private practice and public establishments, and they carry out more than 60% of imaging procedures in the country.

To ensure vital radiology services for all patients across the country, the FNMR suggests five areas for inclusion in candidates' agendas:

• Ensuring a complete imaging service in all territories, because radiology makes a major contribution to diagnosis and medical care.
• Building modern imaging – in particular CT and MRI – into acts and optimized care pathways.
• Reinforcing cancer screening, notably by improving participation in organized breast cancer screening, and through setting up low-dose CT lung cancer screening for patients at risk.
• Promoting the pertinence of acts, a move initiated by radiologists to improve the quality of patient care.
• Stopping recurring price cuts. Each year, imaging serves as a budget adjustment variable for the government which imposes regular tariff reductions, this in turn reducing radiologists' capacity to invest in the latest equipment to the detriment of patient care, the FNMR noted.

The proposals are detailed in the FNMR's publication "Presidential election 2022: the FNMR's proposals for medical imaging," which can be found on the union's website.