A recent survey conducted to explore the impact of imaging cost on patients’ decision to undergo the process revealed a striking fact. The study made it clear that many patients abstain from availing advanced imaging services to keep the overall medical expense under control. On the other hand, some end up incurring substantial debt.
The American College Of Radiology, a journal that published this startling revelation. The article also highlighted that patients adopted various methods for coping with these soaring medical costs.
The Study
Gelareh Sadigh is an MD and works with the Emory University School Of Medicine’s radiology department. Gelareh and other co-authors mentioned in this article that almost 33% of American patients remain more scared and distressed about the cost of medical procedures than diseases.
Stress has never impacted health parameters positively. Therefore, medical expense anxiety also leaves the patients with poorer health and an inferior standard of life. The experts further mentioned that almost 12 to 75 % of critically ill patients give up on imaging exams due to their exorbitantly high costs.
This trend triggered the necessity for an enquiry regarding the influence of high-cost medical treatment on decision-making. The study covered almost 5 imaging clinics’ outpatient segments. The team gathered 61 samples from the patients who underwent MRI or CT exams.
The team also inquired about the patients’ financial concerns related to the expensive imaging exams. The questionnaire also had questions to understand their ways of coping with such inconveniences, and their tendencies of evading the exams to escape the financial bottlenecks.
The Outcome
22.2% of participants reported that they have experienced financial problems due to excessive imaging costs. 35% of them asserted their involvement in devising unique ways to deal with the situation. Some (22.4%) adopted a reduction of household expenses while some (14.8%) curtailed their savings.
Almost 15% of these participants confirmed that they skipped some parts of the care plan laid down by the physicians to manage their medical expenses. This meant consuming fewer medicines than prescribed, availing fewer tests than suggested, and skipping imaging examinations altogether.
The authors of the study further clarified that transparent imaging prices are indeed advantageous. However, this can also be the source of some abrupt shocks strong enough to hold the patients back from availing of the imaging exams. The team suggested that identifying the financial background of the patients can be useful in addressing this issue.
Expensive or not, imaging remains a critical tool for detecting and treating a wide spectrum of diseases. Hence, offering the patients diagnostic methods depending on their financial background can be a solution for putting a stop to this tendency of non-adherence to prescriptions.
At Sepstream®, we make sure that you get the software solution for imaging at a reasonable price. If the software is affordably priced, the charges for the tests will be within reach as well. Making healthcare facilities affordable for all has always been our objective.