markets it might enter are Denver and Salt Lake City. According to data from Clear Health Costs, a healthcare price guide, an MRI in Utah can cost between $703 and $1,192, while the range in Colorado is $819 to $1,088. (MRI pricing information for hospitals in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota is not available on the website.)
While a comprehensive dataset would be preferable to anecdotal evidence, those examples suggest that Smart Choice may have a good chance to amass market share if cost-conscious patients start spreading the word. Anderson says one factor that allows the company to frequently beat the competition on price is the lower overhead costs of operating a retail-like space, compared with one in a hospital setting.
Each of Smart Choice’s imaging centers has become profitable within two months of opening, Anderson says. It costs about $1 million to open a new location, he says. Another major outlay is payments to radiologists at the Cleveland Clinic, who read scans; this is done within 24 hours of an MRI, Anderson says.
Anderson says that when it comes to patients who need MRIs, ThedaCare physicians will explain the different options the same way they always have: objectively.
“Sometimes it’s best for you to go to hospital,” he says. “But in many cases, it’s not.”
