How we helped Kevin save over $8,000 on two MRI’s

A few weeks ago, Kevin, a friend of mine, called me up and said his doctor had referred him to a facility and that he needed two MRIs of his mid and lower back prior to a procedure he was set to have done.

Like most other people, he listened to his doctor, and he called the facility to schedule his appointment. But Kevin and I have had many conversations over the years about health care, and about the high-price of imaging services, and he knew what questions to ask.

Listen to Kevin’s story, and see what he did to save more than $8,000 on these two MRI’s.

APPLICATION: While Kevin’s story is a great example of how even individuals should be watching their backs when it comes to the price we pay for health care services, I want to use Kevin’s story as an example for self-funded employers.

Every year, self-funded employers have many employees who need imaging services including MRI’s, CT Scans, Sonograms, and Xrays. The price your plan and employees are paying can fluctuate dramatically.

Imagine if Kevin worked for your organization, and he didn’t ask about pricing. He likely would have paid a simple “co-pay”, and your self-funded plan would have been responsible for that additional $8,000 in cost! Educating employees only goes so far, as it requires people to remember to go to specific places, or ask specific questions, and let’s face it, most employees don’t like doing the extra work.

That is why more and more employers are implementing highly customized plans that take care of this sort of thing FOR the employee. We can’t expect employees to be “wise consumers” of their care if we aren’t arming them with data and information, and we can’t expect them to help save the organization money if the plan makes it so easy to ignore the bottom line price.

Imaging is an easy segment of the health plan to target for savings that does not impact the quality of care received. Kevin saved over $8,000, but the quality of his services were not diminished in any way. The challenge for self-funded employers is, “How to steer employees to high-quality/low-cost care”, like the two MRI’s for $950 more consistently.

That is a matter of plan design, and that’s how we can help. If you are an employer that wants to regain control over your health plan, and regain control over your costs, give us a call. Implementing organization-wide strategies to maintain high-quality benefits while saving money just takes a little courage and good planning.

I would like to thank Marshall Allen, author of Never Pay The First Bill for interviewing Kevin and publishing his story on his website. Marshall wrote Never Pay The First Bill as a “how to” guide for people looking to arm themselves against the predatory billing practices often associated with receiving care.

And also to Dr. Cristin Dickerson, CEO and Founder of Green Imaging for helping Kevin find the right facility, at the right time, and for the right price! Innovative companies like Green Imaging make it possible to improve clinical care while saving tons of money!