Hospital giant Intermountain Healthcare launching outpatient imaging center chain amid pricing pressure
Intermountain Healthcare is launching a new chain of stand-alone outpatient imaging centers, the hospital giant announced on Monday.
Subsidiary company Tellica Imaging is already working on the first three locations in the Utah communities of Ogden, West Valley City and Orem, set to open in late 2021. Five more will follow in 2022 while Salt Lake City-based Intermountain anticipates creating even more beyond next year.
“While hospital-based imaging services remain an important part of the care process—particularly in emergency situations and when complex imaging services are needed—many patients prefer to access CT scan and MRI imaging services in convenient settings closer to home,” Nannette Berensen, MBA, VP and chief operating officer of Clinical Shared Services at Intermountain, said Sept. 27.
The move comes as healthcare systems face growing pressure to provide radiology services in lower cost settings outside of the hospital. UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest commercial insurer, wants its plan members to receive at least 55% of their radiology services in freestanding sites by 2030. Shifting routine diagnostic imaging from outpatient hospital departments to stand-alone centers or doc offices could reduce U.S. healthcare spending by 62% and save consumers $300 per exam, the payer said in June. Others such as Cigna and Anthem have also stopped covering most advanced imaging in hospitals.
Intermountain said Tellica will offer MRI and CT scans at flat-rate prices that “fall below the costs in typical hospital-based imaging settings.” Despite the pivot, the nonprofit expects radiology services within hospitals will “continue to grow.” The organization spans Utah, Idaho and Nevada, operating 25 hospitals along with 225 clinics, a medical group employing 2,600 docs and advanced-practice providers, and a health plan. Intermountain earlier this month announced plans to merge with SCL Health, which would add eight more hospitals and the states of Colorado, Montana and Kansas to those totals.
Representatives could not answer questions about the announcement by Radiology Business’ publishing deadline late Tuesday.
Nannette Berensen is now serving as Tellica Imaging’s board president and interim CEO. Intermountain has initiated a nationwide search for a permanent chief executive and already filled two slots in its C-suite. Brad Isaacson, PhD, MBA, will slide into the chief operating officer role after joining the organization in 2015 and acting as venture value creation and business development director for the system’s investment arm, Intermountain Ventures. Radiologist and associate medical director of imaging operations Douglas Greally, MD, will serve as Tellica’s CMO, and the group is working to fill 20 new positions at its first three centers.
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.