The following from the RSNA webpage would suggest that the...

The following from the RSNA webpage would suggest that the outbreak of Covid19 in the US could drive an uptick in imaging and hence usage payments to PME, albeit that the market mayhem has already obliterated any such prospective gain many times over for shareholders.
I doubt the shortage of test kits for Covid-19 will persist for long in the US but there is still likely to be increased use of imaging in managing the Covid19 cases.

It's an ill wind ...

"Due to the current shortage of nucleic acid testing kits used to confirm the presence of COVID-19, CT scans have become the first line of defense in diagnosing a suspected infection. Early disease recognition is critical not only for prompt treatment, but also for patient isolation and effective public health containment and response...

Until now, cases had only been confirmed by lab tests finding the virus in swab samples from patients. But in Hubei province, China, patients with CT chest imaging showing the signature pneumonia seen in COVID-19 cases over the last several weeks were just added to the case totals."
https://www.rsna.org/news/2020/January/Coronavirus-Update

Apparently, in the severe cases, where the virus attacks the lungs, characteristic "ground glass opacities" can be seen on CT imaging of the lungs. Not exactly a characteristic name that is likely to boost the patient's morale if they hear it.

I cannot find a date on the the RSNA webpage, but it mentions March 6, so it is quite recent, or at least the text has been updated recently.


There are some things that it may be better not to know.
But for the curious and mathematically inclined, I suggest extrapolating the log scale case number plots for whichever country is of interest, and see what Covid19 case numbers that predicts in say six weeks from now.

Absent a well developed trend for your country of interest, the slope of the global case number trend, excluding China, is currently running quite evenly at about 0.076 log cycles per day.
That equates to a doubling every 4 days.
You may ask yourself what might slow the rate of growth over that sort of time scale.
Let us know if you come up with a convincing answer.

Cheers