Guest |
08-13-2011 10:47 AM |
Quote:
Posted by Guest
(Post 374531)
Where do I start...? I have worked in the healthcare field for 36 years, been an x-ray, CT, and MRI technologist, director of an outpatient imaging center, and currently manage 40 employees in the departments of CT, MRI, Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT. For the last 10 years I have overseen budgets in the millions and ensured patient satisfaction in numerous settings.
Having said that, I feel I have laid some ground work to be able to speak with a smidgen of authority and experience on certain matters...
First of all I think that you have it backwards about who sets the price. Medicare sets the price that they are going to pay, no questions asked. We take a beating on the reimbursement that they give. If we only got what CMS (Medicare) deems proper, we would never be able to afford the purchase let along maintenance of the cutting edge technology that we use to SAVE lives.
It is set up that we should charge for what we use even tho CMS is not going to reimburse. .......
........Off my soap box for now...Oh, I failed to mention that if we provide a service to a person who has no insurance but doesn't qualify for Medicaid/Medicare, and we charged them something less than the CMS rate, it is considered Medicare fraud!...Ok, I'm done for now. :cool:
|
This, quoted above by KatzPajamas, would be why:
"Canada has one of the lowest rates of MRI scanning machines per capita in the developed world, with 6 MRI scanners per million people, compared to 40.1 in Japan, 14.4 in Switzerland and 26.6 in the United States. Pittsburgh alone has more MRI machines than all of Canada..........
MRI scans have become an essential diagnostic imaging tool, revealing problems that aren’t detectable by other more common tests such as x-rays and ultrasounds.
Also, MRI scans have the advantage of avoiding the ionizing radiation that’s used in other radiology tests such as X-rays, computed tomography (CT) scans and positron emission (PET) scans. ....
The social safety net that is Canada’s health care system was designed to ensure everyone is able to access necessary exams. But what do you do when you simply can’t wait the typical 12 to 18 months’ delay for your MRI scan?...."
http://www.bcliving.ca/self/mri-scan...ate-mri-clinic
|