A new report documents in detail physicians’ experiences and concerns with Shared Health’s Diagnostic Imaging Central Intake. The report, which summarizes feedback from a physician consultation we over the summer, confirms a very serious problem: imaging requests are sitting for weeks, sometimes months, before they’re even processed, and patients are falling through the cracks.

We’ve shared our findings with Shared Health and the Minister of Health, calling for urgent improvements.

Why it matters: These delays are affecting patient care, delaying diagnoses and treatment decisions, and adding hours of administrative work for physicians.

📉By the numbers: We consulted physicians in June to better understand the extent of the issue. The consultation, including over 65 physicians, found:

• 78% reported imaging requisitions taking longer than four weeks to be acknowledged, with some waiting three to five months.
• 81% reported delays in patient diagnoses.
• 61% reported worse patient outcomes associated with these delays.
• 39% reported patients needing additional treatment that might otherwise have been avoided.

Most physicians also spend several hours each week tracking outstanding requisitions and following up.

Behind the numbers: Physicians reported requisitions being lost or rejected months after submission. Others couldn’t even confirm whether their patients were on a wait list.

• Most concerning, physicians shared troubling examples of delayed cancer diagnoses or staging, postponed surgical decisions and deferred time-sensitive imaging during pregnancy.

What we’re advocating for: We’ve urged the province to provide Shared Health with the resources needed to eliminate the backlog now, while working toward a modernized system.

• Immediate action: Establish a reliable process to acknowledge and accept non-urgent requisitions within two weeks or less. Physicians need confirmation that requests have been received, notification if more information is required, and a way to check their status. Even a simple fax-back would help.

• Long-term solution: Replace the outdated fax-based process with an interoperable, closed-loop electronic system for submitting, confirming and tracking requisitions. This aligns with our broader recommendations from our October 2025 Referral Summit.

The challenge: Shared Health’s DI leadership recognizes the problem and is working toward a permanent digital solution, but that could take three to five years. Patients and physicians cannot wait that long for basic confirmation that an imaging request has been received.

👀 The catch: It appears central intake delays occur before patients enter the publicly reported imaging wait-time queue. That means weeks or months of additional waiting beyond Manitoba’s already lengthy imaging waits. As of June 2026, reported median imaging wait times were:

• MRI: 24 weeks provincially, up to 53 weeks at HSC. National average: 8 weeks.
• CT: 19 weeks provincially, up to 72 weeks at Victoria Hospital. National average: 2 weeks.
• Ultrasound: 19 weeks provincially, up to 38 weeks at Grace Hospital.

What’s next: We’ll continue pressing for immediate action and keeping members informed.

Keep us updated: Have you noticed improvements, or are you still experiencing problems with DI Central Intake? Contact us to share your experience.

➡️ Read our full physician consultation report.

➡️ Watch this video that describes the DI central intake challenges from both the referring and radiologist perspectives. 

“We live in a modern society where people are used to convenience. They’re used to ordering things on Amazon and Skip the Dishes. They want to know their [diagnostic imaging] order has been received and they want to know when it’s coming. They don’t want to send their order by fax.”

Dr. Noam Millo, Radiologis