Friday, July 13, 2007

MRIs: That will be $3000 plus $10 if you want to see it.

A quick rant about a pet-peeve of mine. Last year I spent thousands on MRIs. I never received a CD or a personal copy of the images. This year I plan on seeing a new neurosurgeon. All the neurosurgeons I've seen so far request that you "hand carry all films". This is because they don't want the hassle of handling your records when they'll probably only see you once.

When I just faxed in a request for a CD containing my latest MRI images, the records staff insisted on charging me $10 to get a "personal copy" of my images. It is not that I cannot afford the ten dollars. I just feel insulted that they provide records free of charge to other physicians, but must charge me even for the first copy I receive.

I told them to ask their neurosurgeons why they require their patients to hand-carry films. Then, I said, feel free to bill my insurance.

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