Hospital changes operating structure, name of imaging center to reduce patient rates
A Nebraska hospital is changing the name and operating structure of its imaging center in order to reduce rates and save patients money.
The renamed Hastings Medical Imaging was formerly solely operated by Mary Lanning Healthcare as a department of the hospital. But in a new partnership with local radiologists, it will now function as an independent diagnostic imaging center using a new pricing structure, hospital officials announced Friday.
“This is all an effort of Mary Lanning Healthcare and local providers to provide the best rates possible for all patients,” hospital Chief Operating Officer Mark Callahan said in an announcement. “Even though it means we only have a share in the imaging, we know that healthcare costs tend to be high. We have been working on this for some time now because we want patients to have options.”
MLH’s employees will continue staffing Hastings Medical Imaging, providing the same “great service,” Callahan added. The structural changes will not affect imaging at its other locations. Local practice Hastings Radiology Associates also operates within the renamed center providing women’s imaging services, according to its website.
Hospital officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Mary Lanning Healthcare’s move comes as an increasing number of commercial payers refuse to cover hospital-based imaging services, steering patients instead to lower cost, freestanding options.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.