Whole-body MRI provider Prenuvo launches annual imaging subscription service
Whole-body MRI provider Prenuvo is launching an annual imaging subscription service seeking to help drum up more repeat business.
The Redwood City, California-based startup announced the move Monday, with its Core Membership starting at $1,199 annually. Co-founded in 2018 by radiologist Rajpaul Attariwala, MD, PhD, Prenuvo offers elective magnetic resonance imaging exams for $2,499 to healthy individuals hoping to root out healthcare concerns before they become symptomatic.
Its move appears to at least in part be inspired by competitor Function Health, which recently acquired whole-body imaging rival Ezra. Function also operates on an annual subscription and offers lab-based blood tests, which are now part of Prenuvo’s new plan.
"Effective health monitoring benefits from a reliable baseline," CEO and Co-founder Andrew Lacy, MBA, said in a statement March 23. "At Prenuvo, we control the full experience, from hardware and software to radiology interpretation, within a single standardized system. When members return, they're gaining consistent, comparable insights into how their health is changing and where action may be needed."
Prenuvo’s Core Membership includes a yearly “Focused Scan,” which lasts 45 minutes, concentrated between the head and mid-thighs, and costs $1,199 on its own. The basic tier also includes a lab panel assessment to help “learn your health baseline.” The second tier Comprehensive Membership costs $2,499 annually and includes the flagship, 60-minute, full-body MRI scan and lab panels. And finally, a top tier Executive Membership goes for $4,499 (or $4,999 at the New York location) and includes a whole-body scan, brain health assessment, body composition analysis and more thorough lab work.
Lacy and colleagues said the memberships will be available at 21 clinic locations across North America. Prenuvo contends that its whole-body scan generates over 1.3 billion data points to help “detect hundreds of potential conditions across major systems.” The company currently operates 26 clinics in North America, Australia and Europe, with its affiliated radiology group employing 100-plus physicians.
Prenuvo has previously sought to differentiate itself from competitors such as Ezra/Function by emphasizing that it operates company clinics and employs its radiologists. Ezra, meanwhile, has offered its MRI artificial intelligence tools to outside radiology groups such as Texas-based Longhorn Imaging.
"Screening whole body MRI is a new interdisciplinary pathway requiring a specific kind of mastery that greatly benefits from vertical integration," President and Chief Medical Officer Dan Durand, MD, MBA, said in a statement. "Experience matters at every step in the patient journey delivered by the 100+ providers in Prenuvo Medical Group. Our board-certified radiologists live in this model daily, structuring their interpretations according to the best practices shaped by 170,000 patients and counting.”
USA Today first reported news of the new membership plans on Monday. Prenuvo has raised over $120 million in funds thus far and is backed by celebrities including super model Cindy Crawford. The business has inspired others to enter the space including radiology group SimonMed Imaging. However, it also has courted controversy. The American College of Radiology does not support the whole-body MR imaging of asymptomatic individuals, noting there is no clinical evidence to support it. Prenuvo, meanwhile, has launched clinical trials seeking to back its marketing claims.
A previous patient also recently sued Prenuvo, alleging the company had missed signs of a forthcoming stroke. The case is being closely watched, as it could have implications for this burgeoning business model.
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.