The Technologist Shortage: The Hidden Barrier to Cardiac MRI Access (And How to Fix It)

Cardiac MRI (CMR) is one of the most powerful tools for diagnosing heart conditions. It’s safe, non-invasive, and offers unmatched detail about how the heart looks and functions. From heart failure to cardiomyopathies, CMR gives doctors the clarity they need to make the right patient decisions.

However, as more providers and patients recognize its value, one big problem is standing in the way: there aren’t enough trained technologists to perform these scans.

Technologists Are the Heart of CMR

CMR doesn’t happen without technologists. They’re the ones who operate the MRI machines, make sure patients are comfortable and safe, and ensure the images are clear and usable. Unlike other MRI scans, cardiac imaging is especially complex—each scan can involve hundreds of steps and take up to 90 minutes. That’s a lot to ask when imaging teams are already stretched thin.

And that’s the crux of the problem. As demand for CMR rises, the shortage of qualified technologists is becoming a major bottleneck—one that affects not just healthcare workers, but patients and outcomes, too.

Why Demand for Cardiac MRI Keeps Growing

The importance of CMR cannot be overstated. With its superior ability to evaluate the heart’s structure and function, and its superior quantification capabilities, CMR is pivotal for diagnosing conditions such as heart failure, cardiomyopathies, valvular disease, coronary artery disease, pericardial heart disease, and more.

As the number of heart cases continues to rise in the United States, the demand for CMR is increasing rapidly. In fact, cardiac imaging usage has increased 20% over the past decade. Despite this,  less than 2% of MRI scanners in the U.S. are routinely used for cardiac imaging. Why the disconnect? Not enough trained technologists are available to keep up with the increasing demand.

How the Technologist Shortage Hurts CMR Access

Performing a CMR scan isn’t easy. It requires specialized training, deep knowledge of the heart, and familiarity with complex protocols. It’s also physically and mentally demanding. The U.S. currently has an 18.1% shortage of technologists – nearly 3x times more than in 2021.

Here are a few reasons why the shortage is getting worse:

• High Turnover: Nearly 1 in 5 technologists leave their jobs every year. That makes it hard for hospitals to keep up.
• Aging Workforce: Many experienced technologists are retiring, and fewer younger professionals are replacing them.
• Burnout: Long hours and rising workloads are causing stress and fatigue, leading more technologists to leave the field.
• Limited training: While general MRI programs exist, very few focus on cardiac imaging. That means it takes years—and often on-the-job experience—to become proficient in CMR.

Put all of that together, and it’s clear why technologist shortages are becoming a key obstacle to offering CMR.

What This Means for Healthcare Providers—and Patients

This isn’t just a staffing issue. It’s a healthcare delivery issue. And it has ripple effects across the system:

• Fewer CMR Programs: Some hospitals and imaging centers simply don’t offer CMR because they don’t have the people to support it
• Variable Scan Quality: When less experienced technologists perform scans, image quality can suffer. That might lead to repeat scans—or worse, missed diagnoses.
• Delayed Patient Care: Patients in many areas wait up to 3 months for CMR scans. That delays diagnosis and treatment, potentially putting lives at risk.
• Lost Revenue: Healthcare organizations struggle to expand or maintain their advanced cardiac imaging services without enough staff. That means lost business and longer backlogs.

This makes addressing the technologist shortages a major priority for any organization that wants to improve cardiovascular care.

Leading organizations are leveraging advanced technology to sidestep these problems and empower a broader range of technologists to run complex cardiac MRI scans.

A Better Way Forward for CMR: How AI Can Help

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a powerful solution to combat technologist shortages by assisting the technologist as a tool for automating some of their most difficult and time-consuming tasks within the CMR process.  Here’s how it works:

This produces several benefits:

• Faster scans: AI can automate complex scan sequences, reducing scan time and improving patient throughput.
• Easier Image Acquisition: With AI identifying the heart and optimizing scan settings in real time, even less experienced technologists can get high-quality images.
• Consistent results: AI standardizes scan protocols, so the images are more uniform across patients and technologists.
• Higher quality: Real-time quality checks help catch errors—like motion or artifact detection before the scan is complete, allowing technologists to correct problems immediately and reducing the need for rescans.

How AI-Driven CMR Benefits the Entire Care Team

AI-driven CMR tools don’t just support technologists—they can improve the experience and outcomes for everyone involved.

For technologists

• Less stress and burnout thanks to fewer manual tasks
• More time to focus on patient care
• Easier onboarding for those new to cardiac imaging
• Better collaboration and support across the team

For physicians – cardiologists and radiologists

• More reliable, high-quality images
• Faster patient access to CMR scans
• More confidence in diagnosis and treatment planning

For healthcare administrators

• Higher patient throughput without adding more staff or equipment
• Reduced patient backlog
• Lower costs due to fewer repeat scans and inefficiencies

Vista AI: Making Cardiac MRI Accessible for Everyone

Vista AI is leading the way in making cardiac MRI faster, easier, and more accessible. Our FDA-cleared Vista Cardiac software automates the expert-level tasks required for a high-quality CMR exam—everything from scan planning and localization to parameter tuning, real-time motion detection, and in-line analysis. By simplifying the workflow, Vista AI empowers technologists of all experience levels to perform complex scans accurately, quickly, and consistently.

At Brigham and Women’s Hospital, our solution helped minimize variability, address staffing limitations, and deliver more efficient patient care—without adding staff.

• 26% faster CMR scans
• 50% more scan slots, enabling 900 additional scans
• 1-day access to CMR from a 1-month backlog

The shortage of trained technologists is a serious and growing barrier to cardiac MRI. But with the right tools—especially AI and automation—healthcare organizations can not only overcome that barrier but build stronger, more scalable imaging programs.

Want to see how Vista AI can help your team do more with less?

👉 Book a demo and explore how we can help you bring CMR to more patients, faster.