Smart Choice MRI Opening Clinics in Lombard, Oswego, Bolingbrook
Smart Choice MRI, the first MRI provider in the country to offer high-quality MRIs for an all-inclusive fee of $600 or less, is expanding to the western suburbs of Chicago, with a Lombard clinic to open October 19, followed by openings in Oswego, October 26, and Bolingbrook, November 16. A Vernon Hills location is also planned before the end of the year.
The new Smart Choice MRI clinics are at the following addresses:
Lombard: 2830 South Highland Avenue, Lombard, IL 60148
Oswego: 2754 US-3, Oswego, IL 60543
Bolingbrook: 757 East Boughton Road, Bolingbrook, IL 60440
These new Smart Choice MRI clinics feature a 1.5T GE Signa Explorer MRI with the new Silent Scan technology, which provides greater patient comfort and reduces exam anxiety. Scans are read by board-certified, sub-specialty radiologists from the Cleveland Clinic, consistently ranked among the nation's best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. Patients can make appointments at 844-NEED-MRI (844-633-3674) or online at www.smartchoicemri.com. Smart Choice MRI will now have a total of eight clinics in Illinois.
"We're excited to be opening more clinics in Illinois and grateful for our relationship with Edward-Elmhurst Health, which is helping us serve more people," said Rick Anderson, Smart Choice MRI chairman and CEO. "The response to our openings this year in Skokie, Glenview, Schaumburg and the Lincoln Park neighborhood in Chicago has been overwhelmingly positive. The community welcomes our approach to patient-centered, quality care while many folks are increasingly seeking relief from out-of-pocket health care costs."
As it continues to grow its footprint nationally, Smart Choice MRI will have a total of 17 clinics by year end, in Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, fueled by $14.5 million in expansion capital, primarily from two health care systems, Edward-Elmhurst Health of Naperville, IL, and ThedaCare, the largest healthcare system in Northeast Wisconsin.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) 2015 Employer Health Benefit Survey, consumers are increasingly pinched by out of pocket healthcare costs. Over the past five years, both the share of workers with deductibles and the size of those deductibles have risen sharply. These two trends together have resulted in a 67 percent increase in deductibles since 2010, much faster than the rise in single premiums (24%) and about seven times the rise in workers' wages (10%) and general inflation (9%).
The average MRI cost is $2,611, according to NerdWallet Health, the personal finance website, which analyzed outpatient data from Medicare.
Smart Choice MRI is the first MRI provider in the country to offer high-quality magnetic resonance imaging to every patient for an all-inclusive fee of $600 or less, which includes the cost of the scan as well as its reading by top radiologists from the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic. Accredited by the American College of Radiology, Smart Choice MRI is in network for most major insurers, including United Health Care, Anthem and Humana. For more information, visit www.smartchoicemri.com ###