IR Work Concentrating Among Fewer, More Dedicated Specialists in U.S. Medicare Data, 2008–2023

Interventional radiology is consolidating into a distinct specialty: the share of radiologists doing any IR work fell from 66.9% to 49.6% (2008–2023), while those with >90% IR workloads doubled (4.1%→8.8%), and the odds of super-majority IR work rose 65% by 2020–2023 (OR 1.65; 9…

• Retrospective repeated cross-sectional analysis of Medicare fee-for-service claims (5% sample); 476,688 radiologist-years representing 46,533 unique radiologists over 15 years.
• Among radiologists retaining any IR work, majority-IR practitioners (>50%) grew from 12.6% to 18.5%; male sex, age 35–44, metropolitan multi-specialty small-group practice predicted majority IR workload on multivariable regression.
• Key limitation: Medicare fee-for-service 5% sample excludes commercial insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare Advantage—trends may not fully generalize to younger or employed-group radiologists outside this payer mix.

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