Evidence Lacking for CMS's Planned Shift to Threshold-Based Radiology Report Turnaround Benchmarks

A PRISMA systematic review found no evidence supporting uniform national threshold-based report turnaround time (R-TAT) benchmarks — yet CMS will require them for MIPS starting 2026. All 13 eligible studies used only local pre/post comparisons; none benchmarked against the ACR G…

• Systematic review of 1,722 records yielded only 13 eligible studies (2000–2024); 92% from US academic practices, evaluating technology adoption, targeted QI projects, or operational changes — all heterogeneous and locally contextualized.
• No study used external national benchmarks; reported R-TAT improvements were context-specific, making cross-practice comparison unreliable without adjustment for modality, case complexity, and practice setting.
• Key limitation: extreme publication homogeneity (academic-dominated) severely limits generalizability to community or rural practices that will face the same CMS threshold requirements beginning 2026.

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