Vision Radiology: leading the way in imaging diagnostics

AN instrumental part of diagnostic practices, MRI scans are used by doctors to diagnose and monitor numerous medical conditions such as cancer, stroke, trauma, and sporting injuries.

“MRI is an important medical diagnostic tool particularly useful for imaging soft tissues such as internal organs like the brain and spinal cord, ligaments and muscles, liver and pelvic organs and other tissues that don’t show up well on X-ray or computed tomography (CT) examinations,” said Mark Ward, lead MRI technician at Vision Radiology.

MRI is the only modality of diagnostic imaging in Australia which operates under a licensing system.

This system is currently undergoing reform to provide critical diagnostic imaging services to more regional and rural Australians.

As it stands, licences are granted on a full or partial basis. MRI machines with a full licence attract a Medicare rebate on all MRI services listed on the Medicare Benefit Schedule MBS, whereas MRI machines with a partial licence only attract a Medicare rebate on a small subset of items listed on the MBS.

Patients who are charged a gap by their radiology provider must pay the full cost of the service upfront before claiming the Medicare rebate.

This is a major barrier for many Australians, who are unable to pay $500 or more upfront for services like CT, nuclear medicine and MRI.

Do we need to include that our MRI is unlicensed which means patients will not receive a rebate for any MRI services? We can however fit patients in quickly.

Vision Radiology, one of Ballarat’s newest medical imaging providers, is closely monitoring the Australian Governments reforms of these licencing requirements to help reduce the pressure on out-of-pocket costs for their patients and improve disease detection and management for the people of the Goldfields community.

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