ClearChoiceMD, the New Hampshire-based chain of 10 high-end urgent care clinics in Northern New England, has installed digital x-ray systems and PACS in all its locations.

According to a press release issued by Viztek, the imaging-system manufacturer based in Garner, N.C., ClearChoiceMD went with that company’s Ultra DR U-Arm System and Opal-RAD PACS, along with a software package that facilitates dose reduction in pediatric patients.

ClearChoiceMD’s CEO, Marcus J. Hampers, MD, MBA, suggested in prepared remarks that the installation is in line with his vision to reduce healthcare costs in the U.S. healthcare system by providing an alternative to hospital emergency rooms.

“Having practiced emergency medicine in Vermont and New Hampshire for more than 20 years, it is staggering to see the costs of caring for these patients in the ED—which can be nearly 10 times the cost possible in an outpatient setting like ours,” said Hampers, who is on the clinical staff in the emergency department of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., as well as the teaching staff at the affiliated Geisel School of Medicine.

“When factoring in the right mix of imaging solutions, such as the PACS, DR and low dose software we have implemented from Viztek, we get significant efficiency and added care benefits beyond offering lower costs,” said Hampers.

In a recent conversation with imagingBiz, Hampers said ClearChoiceMD has plans to expand to other regions of the country, adding that the organization has contracted with a teleradiology practice in Arizona to provide fast professional reads.

He also addressed the concerns of primary-care physicians who may view high-end urgent care centers as unwanted—and formidable—competition. That seems likely, as ClearChoiceMD locations not only offer deluxe x-ray capabilities but also employ multidisciplinary staff members.

“If a primary care physician can be unburdened by what we call add-on visits, or acute care visits, they can focus on what they really want to do, which is sit down with you and counsel you on smoking cessation or your blood pressure,” Hampers told imagingBiz. “We know that makes a difference, and we know people live longer when primary care providers provide that level of service. A lot of primary care providers are not opposed to urgent care because it increases their capacity to practice primary care.”