Magnetic Resonance
 
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has become an important diagnostic tool in all aspects and specialties of medicine, from orthopedics to cardiology to neurology to podiatry. Because of the increasing use and state of the art diagnostic results of the MRI, scheduling patients in our region has become quite difficult. Hamilton Hospital offers a mobile MRI service several mornings a week. But for many reasons, (i.e. emergencies, time off from work, elderly travel difficulties, etc.), patients cannot wait to have these services and we have had to look to Trinity Hospital, Ames or Des Moines to try to schedule patients. Unfortunately, all of these MRI sites are experiencing the same problem…these services are in demand and schedules are overbooked.

Further compounding the problem, is that a number of insurance plans require that a deductible plus 20% be paid by the patient if the MRI is performed in a hospital, making this a very expensive out of pocket exam for the patient. For these insurance plans, if the MRI is performed in a clinic setting, the patient need only pay their office co-pay, and no deductible or 80/20 applies. Because there are very few clinic based MRI’s in Iowa, this makes finding and scheduling a clinic based MRI schedule opening even more difficult.

In our decision making process, we investigated both the open and closed short bore MRI systems. According to consultants from Boston, San Diego and Mayo Clinic, the short bore closed MRI systems offer exceptionally high resolution detail quality (for better disease diagnosis), and a broader exam spectrum. We have, therefore, chosen a closed short bore 1.5T MRI (the highest magnet strength available), that is based at the Webster City Medical Campus and available to serve our community and region. This enhances our capability to effectively diagnose and direct treatment in a more timely and efficient manner. At times when claustrophobia may be a concern, in house physicians will be readily available to sedate patients.

The MRI will is available for referral from any physician, not just the physicians from Trimark or Webster City Medical Clinic. The MRI Center is ready for scheduling patients.