I had no idea MRI's were this expensive...

[RadiclDreamer]

Well this makes it cost more "with a contrast injection"

Also, is this including professional services (reading) which is often a separate line item

 

[Mark R]

One of the advantages of universal public health insurance is that it does keep costs right down.

Cost price for a brain MRI with contrast in the UK is about $300. That covers about 45 minutes of scanner time, 2 technologists time, radiologist's time, contrast injection and admin/overhead costs.

However, that's in highly efficienct, high volume public hospitals. Private clinics are unlikely to be able to match that cost - I know a couple that charge about $500 for a brain MRI, and are struggling to break even at that cost.

Typically MRI machine time runs about $100-150 per hour.
(Purchase price $1-2 million; installation costs approx $250-500k; service contract @ 100-150k per year; useful life 8 years @ 3500 hours per year)

2 Techs are required to operate the machine

Typical scan (single body part) takes about 30-60 minutes, depending on complexity.

Contrast injection, if needed, costs about $30 + appropriately trained staff time + disposables (needles, gloves, etc.)

 

[FallenHero]

One of the advantages of universal public health insurance is that it does keep costs right down.

Cost price for a brain MRI with contrast in the UK is about $300. That covers about 45 minutes of scanner time, 2 technologists time, radiologist's time, contrast injection and admin/overhead costs.

However, that's in highly efficienct, high volume public hospitals. Private clinics are unlikely to be able to match that cost - I know a couple that charge about $500 for a brain MRI, and are struggling to break even at that cost.

And how long is the wait to get to use them?

 

[Mark R]

And how long is the wait to get to use them?

It depends on the reason for the scan, and whether it is medically necessary to do it. If it's a genuine emergency, where MRI is the only suitable test, then it is always possible to do it within a few hours.

Non-emergencies get prioritised, depending on how much difference the scan is likely to make.

If the scan is expected to make a difference, or the condition suspected is serious and time is important, then typically most places can offer an appointment within 1-2 weeks.

For most scans, which are not expected to make a significant difference (*), then the waiting time is longer, and varies from hospital to hospital - typically 4-12 weeks (but some hospitals are shorter and some are longer).

(*) Example - someone with recurrent dizzy spells, due to suspected Meniere's disease, will often get an MRI. However, in this group of patients, the MRI will be normal in approx 99.5% of cases.

 

[dmoney1980]

Well this makes it cost more "with a contrast injection"

Also, is this including professional services (reading) which is often a separate line item

No, that was just the MRI cost

 

[Corporate Thug]

And how long is the wait to get to use them?

under my HMO, I waited 3 weeks from the days of the doctor's request to the day of the MRI. 2 MRI = billed at 8k; Contract rate was 4k, I paid $800 out of pocket (20%) because it was a "outpatient procedure." :roll:

 

[bfdd]

I probably have to get one soon for my elbow, meeting with an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. Fucking hate spending goddamn health care money, but I can barely fucking drive right now because my left arm is so jacked up. Funny thing is, if you would have offered to pay cash. The MRI would have been exponentially cheaper.

 

[Corporate Thug]

I probably have to get one soon for my elbow, meeting with an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. Fucking hate spending goddamn health care money, but I can barely fucking drive right now because my left arm is so jacked up. Funny thing is, if you would have offered to pay cash. The MRI would have been exponentially cheaper.

it's probably the most important money you are going to spend.

 

[bfdd]

it's probably the most important money you are going to spend.

That's what my dad keeps telling me. Says I'm wasting thousands of dollars I've paid in insurance I've never used, by letting my arm just "rot". I just hate being a waste of resources.

 

[911paramedic]

Well this makes it cost more "with a contrast injection"

Also, is this including professional services (reading) which is often a separate line item

Had one of those seven months ago and they saw some irregularities and told me to repeat it in six months. I have an appointment this Friday to talk to my doctor and schedule it.

Some people say the contrast makes you feel like you pissed yourself, it just made my nuts get really warm...felt kind of good. 😛

EDIT: Oops, I was talking about CT's. But I did have an MRI about a month ago, took nearly an hour for a scan from the base of my skull to my pelvis. (Complete spine.) I was really jammed into that tube, not a lot of room to stretch.

 

[sportage]

I just self-paid for an MRI of my neck 2 days ago. Total $525 w/ cash upfront. If I'd resorted to payments it would have been $1500 some.

Sitting in front of your microwave is not considered a cheap MRI. 😀

 

[mmntech]

And how long is the wait to get to use them?

Depends. Can be a few days to several months here depending on the demand. Typically the latter. They're extremely expensive for hospitals to buy so there aren't a lot of them out in the wild. A lot of Canadians will pay and cross the border to get the scans done quicker.

 

[ghost recon88]

I work in radiology, if you saw the price of the equipment you might understand the rates D:

 

[Twista]

Was there any evidence of brain activity?

😛

 

[AnonymouseUser]

If you'd paid out-of-pocket, it probably would have been less than your annual deductible.

 

[ElFenix]

Damn...the last MRI I had for my back was billed at about $1500...but of course, the insurance company paid about $650...and the rest was "written off."

and there's the real answer.

well, not the written off part.


they've contracted with insurers so their business is like joseph a bank. yeah, the suits all have price tags on them but no one has ever paid anywhere near that much for a suit.

 

[freegeeks]

You should see how much it cost for a helicopter ride. A couple years ago I had to go to the ER for chest pains due to possible complications I had with the heart surgery I had a couple weeks before, The doc had me airlifted to the hospital that did my heart surgery.

Bill was $14000 and an additional $1600 for mileage. Luckily, my insurance covered it.

a friend of mine has a baby that was born with a very rare condition and needed an operation at age 6 months. His baby was in prenatal ICU for 6 months and needed a cross country ambulance plane ride because this specific operation is only done in a hospital at the the east coast.

Total bill was more then 2,5 million dollar

 

[yhelothar]

Was there any evidence of brain activity?

Nope... because it's an MRI and not an fMRI 😉

 

[Ketchup]

I have had a couple functional MRI's within the last couple years, one with contrast and one without. They are not cheap, but what they can do is amazing. Like others have said, the deals hospitals have with insurance companies makes the initial price a joke really.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

I work in radiology, if you saw the price of the equipment you might understand the rates D:

I work in a hospital IT, I've seen the cost of the modalities and the software that goes with it. Trust me, you make it back in short time. Diagnostics typically float hospitals. They get low cash flow with most everything except surgery and diag.

 

[ScottFern]

You should have shopped around, different places charge different prices for the same thing...my company just contracted a new service for us called Compass, we can call them anytime and have them compare prices for procedures ordered by our doctor, saves us and them money if we get it done for less

That sounds very interesting. I was going to comment and say who has the knowledge, or the contacts to "shop around" any procedure. Not to mention people who don't live in big urban centers. I guess the long drive could cost far less than the increase in cost. But this idea that we are supposed to put out to bid our bypass surgery is so foreign and uncommon to me.

But, this Compass company sounds like a good alternative and solution.

 

[Meghan54]

"Shopping around" sounds like a great idea.....but just try to get any pricing info out of any hospital for any procedure. Good luck!

 

[Saint Nick]

You should have told them they need to refuel their liquid nitrogen. Or whatever.

 

[bfdd]

No MRI, probably nerve damage. Going back to the orthopedic surgeon in 2 weeks to most likely setup an appointment with a nerve specialist. Lame!

 

[Mark R]

I work in radiology, if you saw the price of the equipment you might understand the rates D:

Well, I work in radiology and I've just been doing some work looking at the feasibility of getting an extra MRI where I work. So I do know the costs (at least where I am), indeed I posted a breakdown of typical costs earlier in the thread.

Simply put, a simple MRI study like a generic brain scan on a standard general purpose MRI scanner, in an efficiently run unit should achieve a cost price of around $300-500. (Obviously, more complex scans, such as fMRI, or large area coverage - e.g. whole spine need more time, and so have a correspondingly higher cost).

A lot depends on how much the equipment cost (e.g. whether it was top-of-the-range general purpose, or a less expensive scanner optimised for a more limited range of tasks) and how busy it is (MRIs have large fixed costs and large capital costs - keeping them busier amortises this cost over more cases. So in Europe, government hospitals tend to run their MRIs for 70-90 hours per week - i.e. they'll offer appointment times from 6 am to 8 pm Monday to Friday + half days on Sat/Sun).

A unit where the scanners work shorter hours (e.g. 35 hour weeks), or which have a high ratio of admin staff to technical staff (e.g. in a small clinic with only 1 scanner), will not be able to achieve that sort of price. Additionally, any defaults on payment, will also mean that this price cannot be achieved.

Similarly, a unit which is required to do specialist work, will naturally require more capital equipment. Typical types of additional equipment that might be needed are:
- contrast injection pump - $80k (explanatory note - most MRI contrast injections can be given by hand. Some highly specialised scans require a precisely timed injection during scanning, or require that the contrast be injected at a rate that cannot be achieved by hand pressure alone)
- EKG monitor - $50k
- fMRI audio/visual equipment - $10k (video projector, control PC, analysis software licensing, rear projection screen on non-magnetic frame, non-magnetic headphones - this last one isn't easy)