Hospital system touts opening of new retail imaging centers with affordable pricing

An East Coast hospital system is touting the opening of new retail imaging centers with affordable pricing.

South Carolina-based Prisma Health announced the launch of its new facilities on July 31. Located in the communities of Greenville and West Columbia, the centers offer MRI, CT and X-ray services.

Prisma said it opened the facilities to better serve outpatients who require nonurgent imaging for diagnosis or prior to a scheduled procedure. The 18-hospital nonprofit noted that the centers will offer patients flexibility in scheduling along with lower costs.

“Prisma Health is proud to offer these new imaging centers that will open up greater access to diagnostic services for our patients,” Abby Stonecipher, MBA, VP of business transformation, said in an announcement. “These centers have been designed to focus on providing high quality care in an affordable and convenient manner.”

Patients and referring providers can use the centers in two ways, Prisma noted. Referrers can order exams at checkout after an office visit, “selecting the location most convenient for the patient.” Or individuals with an imaging order can self-schedule using MyChart or by phoning the facilities. The two centers, in the Upstate and Midlands regions of South Carolina, are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

As payers continue to push imaging to less costly outpatient settings, Prisma Health joins a growing number of hospitals opening their own options. Hospital giant Intermountain Health, for one, is expanding its homegrown Tellica Imaging center chain to Massachusetts miles away from its home in Utah. The centers offer flat rates for MRI and CT that fall well below prices at other hospital-based settings.

Others are going the partnership route. Investor-backed Outpatient Imaging Affiliates recently inked a deal with UConn Health to open the academic center’s first freestanding imaging site.