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Cash Pay Imaging
Nothing solidifies a patient’s commitment to your services than saving them money, and imaging is one of the areas most ripe for cost savings. It’s also a lot of fun to realize that there are deals out there that you were likely never aware of when you were part of the “system”. Most patients assume that using insurance is the best way to obtain the best deal and save the most money. With the insurance based pricing structure, high deductibles, and coinsurance, in the vast majority of cases, nothing could be further from the truth.
The level of imaging utilization and run away pricing in the U.S. healthcare network wastes hundreds of billions of dollars per year (If the U.S. did less imaging, fewer numbers of the 25 most common procedures, and lowered prices and the number of procedures to levels in the Netherlands, it would translate into a savings of $137 billion.) (Source)
The average cost of a CT exam in the U.S. was $896 per scan as compared to $97 in Canada, $279 in the Netherlands, and $500 in Australia. Additionally, the average cost for an MRI in the U.S. was $1,145 compared with $350 in Australia and $461 in the Netherlands. (Source)
With such large profits at stake for the system, how in the world can we work effectively on our patients’ behalf to save them money and negotiate fair pricing? While the facilities available will vary regionally, a few fairly simple principles apply nationwide.
AVOID HOSPITAL BASED IMAGING! - Results show that average hospital prices range from 70 percent higher to 208 percent higher (nuclear medicine) than the average prices at free-standing imaging centers. (Source)
UTILIZE FREE-STANDING IMAGING CENTERS - The pricing at free-standing imaging centers will be significantly lower for patients whether they choose to pay cash or have the charges submitted to insurance. It is worth having a discussion with the centers near you to obtain a list of their cash prices. At times, they will offer additional discounts for client bill pricing in which the imaging center bills your clinic for the imaging, and you then collect fees from the patient. Whether the benefit to patients is great enough to warrant the additional financial risk and administrative burden to your clinic will vary from practice to practice.
ENCOURAGE USE OF CASH-ONLY IMAGING COMPANIES - Similar to the growth in the DPC arena, over the past decade, several of our radiology colleagues have discovered the freedom of refusing to deal with insurance. Cristin Dickerson, MD founded Green Imaging in 2011 and has grown the company to a nationwide presence. Similarly, RadiologyAssist was started as a way for the uninsured population to obtain imaging at discounted cash prices but is available to anyone who chooses to pay cash rather than file their insurance. Rather than building their own imaging centers, these companies purchase unused capacity at existing imaging centers at a discount and pass that savings along to the patient. The caveat with these cash-only companies is that patients must pre-pay for their services prior to scheduling, however they can utilize Care Credit or a layaway type plan in many cases if paying the entire cost is still a challenge even at the discounted rate. At Radiology Assist the price for plain films starts at $33 and MRI as low as $265. These networks are expanding rapidly but as of now, they are not available in the far northern states including the Dakotas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Ordering imaging through these companies is simple and can be done online or by uploading a referral form.
https://greenimaging.net/
https://radiologyassist.com/
Written by Kelsey Smith, MD
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Cash Pay Imaging
Nothing solidifies a patient’s commitment to your services than saving them money, and imaging is one of the areas most ripe for cost savings. It’s also a lot of fun to realize that there are deals out there that you were likely never aware of when you were part of the “system”. Most patients assume that using insurance is the best way to obtain the best deal and save the most money. With the insurance based pricing structure, high deductibles, and coinsurance, in the vast majority of cases, nothing could be further from the truth.
The level of imaging utilization and run away pricing in the U.S. healthcare network wastes hundreds of billions of dollars per year (If the U.S. did less imaging, fewer numbers of the 25 most common procedures, and lowered prices and the number of procedures to levels in the Netherlands, it would translate into a savings of $137 billion.) (Source)
The average cost of a CT exam in the U.S. was $896 per scan as compared to $97 in Canada, $279 in the Netherlands, and $500 in Australia. Additionally, the average cost for an MRI in the U.S. was $1,145 compared with $350 in Australia and $461 in the Netherlands. (Source)
With such large profits at stake for the system, how in the world can we work effectively on our patients’ behalf to save them money and negotiate fair pricing? While the facilities available will vary regionally, a few fairly simple principles apply nationwide.
AVOID HOSPITAL BASED IMAGING! - Results show that average hospital prices range from 70 percent higher to 208 percent higher (nuclear medicine) than the average prices at free-standing imaging centers. (Source)
UTILIZE FREE-STANDING IMAGING CENTERS - The pricing at free-standing imaging centers will be significantly lower for patients whether they choose to pay cash or have the charges submitted to insurance. It is worth having a discussion with the centers near you to obtain a list of their cash prices. At times, they will offer additional discounts for client bill pricing in which the imaging center bills your clinic for the imaging, and you then collect fees from the patient. Whether the benefit to patients is great enough to warrant the additional financial risk and administrative burden to your clinic will vary from practice to practice.
ENCOURAGE USE OF CASH-ONLY IMAGING COMPANIES - Similar to the growth in the DPC arena, over the past decade, several of our radiology colleagues have discovered the freedom of refusing to deal with insurance. Cristin Dickerson, MD founded Green Imaging in 2011 and has grown the company to a nationwide presence. Similarly, RadiologyAssist was started as a way for the uninsured population to obtain imaging at discounted cash prices but is available to anyone who chooses to pay cash rather than file their insurance. Rather than building their own imaging centers, these companies purchase unused capacity at existing imaging centers at a discount and pass that savings along to the patient. The caveat with these cash-only companies is that patients must pre-pay for their services prior to scheduling, however they can utilize Care Credit or a layaway type plan in many cases if paying the entire cost is still a challenge even at the discounted rate. At Radiology Assist the price for plain films starts at $33 and MRI as low as $265. These networks are expanding rapidly but as of now, they are not available in the far northern states including the Dakotas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Ordering imaging through these companies is simple and can be done online or by uploading a referral form.
https://greenimaging.net/
https://radiologyassist.com/
Written by Kelsey Smith, MD