Medstar doctor urging me to get MRI at Medstar

[Anonymous]

Medstar doctors always urge me to get any MRIs that they order at Medstar. They say they are more clear. Do you think this is true? I find it hard to believe that Medstar MRIs are any better than Inova or VHC MRIs.

[Anonymous]

Doctors routinely prefer one MRI facility over the other. Many reasons for that. Not sure about this particular preference but why not just get it done there? It’s all the same to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doctors routinely prefer one MRI facility over the other. Many reasons for that. Not sure about this particular preference but why not just get it done there? It’s all the same to you.

NP but it isnt' all the same to my insurance, that's for sure.

[Anonymous]

If you are at medstar naturally they will direct you to medstar. They also get much easier and quicker access to your images when it is done in house. The doc also has a good accessible relationship with the radiologist. Images may be clearer bc they've been upgrading a lot of their imaging machines. I'm sure inova is good too. But medstar is much better than say community radiology. If you're seeing a medstar doc have the imaging done at medstar.

[Anonymous]

Maybe it's easier for them to look up the raw data. I've had ultrasounds in one hospital and have had to carry a CD to another hospital to be downloaded if they want to see that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doctors routinely prefer one MRI facility over the other. Many reasons for that. Not sure about this particular preference but why not just get it done there? It’s all the same to you.

NP but it isnt' all the same to my insurance, that's for sure.

NP. Same here. I have to pay $$$ to get MRI at Medtsar vs Washington Radiology where it is $.

[Anonymous]

But then do you have to get and bring a disc of images?

[Anonymous]

they may have newer equiptment and then they can see the results quicker via the portal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doctors routinely prefer one MRI facility over the other. Many reasons for that. Not sure about this particular preference but why not just get it done there? It’s all the same to you.

NP but it isnt' all the same to my insurance, that's for sure.

NP. Same here. I have to pay $$$ to get MRI at Medtsar vs Washington Radiology where it is $.

If your insurance plan allows you to see specialists or obtain an MRI/Catscan/whatever without a referral then you should be able to just go to your preferred provider rather than MedStar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Medstar doctors always urge me to get any MRIs that they order at Medstar. They say they are more clear. Do you think this is true? I find it hard to believe that Medstar MRIs are any better than Inova or VHC MRIs.

Are you surprised that they would push you to use their own hospital system?

[Anonymous]

I think it’s just because they like having one place and they have given them feedback on the specifics of what they want or whatever. Just go with what’s easy to schedule

[Anonymous]

You get an MRI where your insurance covers it. Their preference is irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

It could be the number of "slice" images taken at Medstar. FWIW, I worked as a stroke RN and our stroke doctors preferred MRI images taken at our hospital vs small outside hospitals if there was a transfer patient, specifically because more time was taken to take the MRI, slicing the 3D image in smaller increments, it gave a better, more detailed, visualization of what was happening (it also meant that the MRI took longer to complete)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It could be the number of "slice" images taken at Medstar. FWIW, I worked as a stroke RN and our stroke doctors preferred MRI images taken at our hospital vs small outside hospitals if there was a transfer patient, specifically because more time was taken to take the MRI, slicing the 3D image in smaller increments, it gave a better, more detailed, visualization of what was happening (it also meant that the MRI took longer to complete)

DP to add, not all MRI scanners are the same, some are better at providing detailed images - look up 3T vs 1.5T.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It could be the number of "slice" images taken at Medstar. FWIW, I worked as a stroke RN and our stroke doctors preferred MRI images taken at our hospital vs small outside hospitals if there was a transfer patient, specifically because more time was taken to take the MRI, slicing the 3D image in smaller increments, it gave a better, more detailed, visualization of what was happening (it also meant that the MRI took longer to complete)

DP to add, not all MRI scanners are the same, some are better at providing detailed images - look up 3T vs 1.5T.

Software updates are important also. My oncologist prefers hospital and university based radiology centers because they are most likely to have the most up to date software.