Can my medical practice make money with an MRI?
April 21, 2024
By: Stephen A. Veals \ CEO MRI Consulting Group
How many MRIs do I need each month to be profitable?
Utilizing very conservative assumptions, if your medical group currently refers out at least 160 MRI scans per month, you are certainly in the ballpark to sustain and benefit from a profitable MRI! With surgeons and physician assistants both making referrals, experiencing solid profitability with your MRI becomes even more probable.
Before starting an MRI Project, what should I know about expenses, revenue, and profitability issues?
The decision to install an MRI is a serious and exciting business undertaking. Acquiring the magnet and building an MRI Imaging Center can easily range between $1.9 million and $2.4 million. We help each client understand the expenses they will encounter, their projected reimbursement per MRI scan, and the revenue and profitability they can expect in their specific MRI Project. No questions are left unanswered for our clients.
Understanding your MRI Center Expenses
There is much more to consider than MRI scan volume, and no two MRI projects or their complete set of business assumptions are ever the same.
Understanding your probable expenses is critical to the success of your MRI Project!
Your expense side will be crucial for the financial success of your MRI Imaging Center: your costs for equipment, suite leasing, the many vendor and contractor expenses related to your MRI suite build-out, and personnel expenses.
Based on your needs, our project experience, the gathering of updated information, and successful negotiations with MRI manufacturers and suppliers, we can project a probable price of the MRI equipment that will meet your needs, whether leased or purchased, including early buyout options. A wide range of MRI equipment is on offer, from extremity MRI units up to 1.5, 3.0, or even a 7 Tesla unit. This includes MRI magnets with the latest AI upgrades that provide up to 50% faster patient throughput. To create a high-quality, profitable, and sustainable MRI Imaging Center, your MRI entity should offer competitively priced scans, fast patient throughput, high-resolution, high-quality scans, and excellent customer service and patient comfort. Whatever equipment you select, the cost of annual equipment maintenance contracts must also be considered.
After an analysis of your current or planned space for the MRI suite, taking into consideration any issues that we identify at this early stage, we can work with current Architect and Builder cost data for your specific community to arrive at projected buildout costs for your particular MRI imaging center, including architect fees, all construction costs, plus any necessary furnishings.
In all markets, we can determine the expenses related to Tele-radiology, Radiology interpretation, scan supply, and necessary upgrades to your IT system and acquisition of large-bandwidth high-speed fiber cabling.
We can advise you on the optimal staffing for your particular MRI facility, with recommendations on determining realistic market compensation rates for your MRI technologist, front office staff, facility manager, and any other personnel.
Where should I start to determine if an MRI Imaging Center Project is right for me?
Start by creating an accurate financial and business viability analysis for any MRI project you wish to consider.
The creation of The MRI Financial and Business Viability Analysis will tell you if your MRI Imaging Center will be profitable and what is necessary to do so!
MRI Consulting Group can work with you to provide the detailed information and comprehensive analysis you need to make informed decisions in planning, designing, building, and implementing your MRI project.
The first step toward a successful MRI project is to create the MRI Financial and Business Viability Analysis.
We are very proud of the MRI Imaging Center Financial and Business Viability Analysis that we make in working with our clients. We enjoy working closely with clients to produce a document whose assumptions are grounded in the facts of their specific medical practice and community. Our goal is to create a set of projections over a six-year period that delivers an accurate picture, each successive year, of your expected MRI scan revenue, expenses, and resulting net practice revenue. Although perhaps a slightly dated but still relevant term, the MRI Financial and Business Viability Analysis provides a "road map" for your progress in the successful implementation of your MRI Magnet into your medical practice.
This is not a one-size-fits-all analysis. No two of these financial analyses are even remotely the same because it is necessary to individualize this analysis to your actual practice and each provider’s clinical MRI ordering profile, your practice insurer agreements, and your specific payer mix profile. Close is not good enough, so creating a financial and business viability analysis you can take to the bank is essential!
Will the MRI Financial and Business Viability Analysis tell me if my MRI center might not be profitable?
On occasion, the MRI Financial and Business Viability Analysis, as initially constructed, using your unique medical practice information, will reveal that you do not have the bottom-line profitability that you require for your MRI Imaging Center Project.
No worries, and it is best to know in advance. This detailed Financial and Business Viability Analysis is the first step in any MRI Imaging Center Project so our clients can make informed adjustments to their plans before moving forward. Whether it is due to decreased MRI scan volume, decreased reimbursement per MRI Scan, or excessive expense burdens, we can assist you in understanding what is needed and possible to create a profitable MRI Imaging Center. Adjustments can be made in your planning, and new strategies for success are recommended. You have many suitable options for consideration.
Can I get financing for my MRI Imaging Project?
The MRI Financial and Business Viability Analysis we create on behalf of our clients is a high-quality document with verifiable assumptions and well-founded projections that will be an invaluable tool when working with Project Partners, Banks, and Lenders. We have repeatedly seen this result in improved loan terms and lending opportunities for our clients. In addition, the client knows what to expect all along the way in the performance of their MRI Imaging Center. Experience has shown that lenders value the MRI Financial and Business Viability Analysis that has been constructed as a serious financial projection of the probable performance of your MRI Project. Early on, creating an accurate MRI financial and business viability analysis is not just important; it is critical to the success of any MRI project. After all, A vision without a plan is a hallucination!
How will I know if insurers will pay for scans with my in-house MRI?
Every community is different, and each insurer will have a specific process of initially credentialing and approving your MRI for service. The insurer MRI Magnet pre-approval process can take some months initially. It must be incorporated early in your plan, design, build, and Implementation schedule for your MRI project. While there can be several steps that need to occur for the approval and insurer contracting for your MRI, I know of no insurer who has failed to contract with a medical group for the use of their MRI unit if the medical group has gone through the insurer pre-approval process for their MRI. Our consulting group has a long and successful record of negotiating with many insurer groups and gaining favorable agreements for physicians' use of their MRIs.
How can I ensure the longer-term profitability of my in-house MRI Imaging Center?
Ongoing payments to your MRI Imaging Center by insurers for the diagnostic use of your MRI with your patients will require your practice to successfully work with each insurer on their specific Prior Authorization Approval process and protocol. It will also require good documentation from physicians and physician assistants regarding the clinical need for the MRI ordered by the medical practice. To succeed in the MRI Prior Authorization process, your front and back office personnel should communicate well with one another. As your staff members get experienced, the insurers will learn to trust your staff members' judgment and skills in the Prior Authorization process. Conversely, your staff members will gain the experience necessary to work successfully over the longer term with each insurer. Good clinical documentation, follow-up, patience, and persistence with each insurer will be essential for your insurer's prior approval and payment process. It will work to ensure the longer-term profitability of your MRI Imaging Center.
Do you have a recent MRI Imaging Center Success Story?
Recently, we facilitated the merger of two orthopedic practices to create an Orthopedic and Spine Center that generated the scan volume necessary to support a highly profitable MRI and made it clear that they could support a new and profitable Ambulatory Surgery Center.
Yes, your medical practice can make money with an MRI.
The in-house MRI Opportunity and the Reward
Building and owning an MRI Imaging Center can be an enriching and valuable opportunity, and the industry numbers tell a compelling story. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) is a clinically valuable medical imaging diagnostic tool utilized by nearly all of the medical specialties across our country and across the globe, for that matter.
One medical imaging industry source recently indicated that nearly 40 million MRI scans are performed annually in the United States alone, with over $100 billion in annual revenue! Because the MRI Imaging Center business is forecast to continue to grow very strongly, we recommend that you take a place at that table!
The MRI Consulting Group website provides more information on determining whether an MRI imaging center is the right choice for your medical practice.
Reach out today to schedule a complimentary half-hour call to discuss your path to owning a profitable MRI!
Check these other pages for more in-depth information:
Can My Medical Practice Have a Profitable MRI?
MRI Project Financial Analysis