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Medical imaging is fundamental to both diagnosis and treatment of patients in modern medicine. The price for these services varies widely deepening on where patients have this done.
Tellica Imaging — an Intermountain Healthcare company — is helping bring down costs with new outpatient imaging centers which only offer MRI and CT scans. By not having the overhead of a normal hospital or clinic it allows for costs to stay lower and the savings are passed on to patients.
“This is a major step to make sure high-quality care is accessible and affordable,” said Doug Greally, MD, chief medical officer for Tellica Imaging. “A major aspect of value-based care is innovating to get the same outcomes at a lower cost and that’s what we’re doing at Tellica.”
With Tellica’s price transparency patients know what to expect because imaging is a flat rate price with an MRI costing $550 and a CT scan at $350. The centers do take insurance which varies on how much is covered but patients will never pay more than the fixed prices. Due to Tellica’s low prices, many insurance carriers do not require pre-authorization, which makes scheduling and access much easier.
Since June, Tellica Imaging has operated three centers in Ogden, Taylorsville, and Orem, with plans to expand in the future. These centers won’t replace imaging at hospitals and clinics, but will be an option for patients who are scheduling non-emergency imaging and offers them further convenience and access for their imaging needs.
Since Tellica is an Intermountain company, patients can expect the high quality of care Intermountain is known for. Fellowship-trained radiologists in every sub-specialty within radiology are available to interpret the imaging examinations as appropriate, based on specific medical need and a patient’s medical history. Imaging results can be placed in the Intermountain electronic medical record for a patient’s Intermountain medical provider to access.
The pricing model is already helping people around the country. Recently a patient from Texas was looking to do his annual cancer screening when a friend told him about Telllica. The patient was traveling to Utah for business and scheduled his CT scan to make sure he was still cancer free. He says the cost was much lower than the $6,000 he was quoted for the same scan in his area.
“The vast majority of imaging is an outpatient service which gives patients time to shop around,” said Dr. Greally. “We can now offer patients lower cost imaging while also helping relieve any backlogs at other hospitals in the area.”
For more information on Tellica Imaging or to schedule an appointment, click here.
About Intermountain Healthcare
Headquartered in Utah with locations in eight states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Healthcare is a nonprofit system of 33 hospitals, 385 clinics, medical groups with some 3,900 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called SelectHealth with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For more information and updates, click here
