Worth a read (note: you may have to have an account on the site, but I believe it is free). Covers a lot of history and provides a sobering perspective of state of Radiology today…

Economically, radiology experienced a classic bubble in my 30 years as a department chairman. Tailwinds from new technology increased both the demand for imaging services and reimbursement per average case. These were coupled with increased efficiency from PACS, and led to remarkable increases in departmental income and compensation for individual radiologists.

While the economic vectors were all pointing up, we were lulled into thinking this was the way things were always going to be — and should be. Wrong. As soon as imaging became the fastest-growing cost segment in healthcare, the knives came out and reimbursement cuts began, however flawed their logic. The bubble burst.