I just had an MRI on my foot
 

I just had an MRI on my foot, procedure took approximately 40-45 minutes--total bill--$1081.00. Is this normal? Granted the image showed a stress fracture not visible with the original X-ray, but a grand for this? I dunno, just seems pretty steep.

Sounds normal. I had MRI of my arm last year and the bill was $1400. :tsk:

If it was an in-plan imaging center, they'll probably get $500 to $550 for the procedure, if that.

Depending on the machine, that thing could be as much as $2 million, or more. Or it could be a lot less.

That's the cost of perfect information. To get that information you have to use advanced technology and use sub-specialized physicians. The breakdown:

MRI Scanner cost: $1 to $2 Million bucks

Musculoskeletal Radiologist:
- 4 years college
- 4 years med school
- 1 year internship
- 4 years radiology residency
- 1 year musculoskeletal radiology fellowship
---------------
14 years of study past high school
$200,000 individual debt

Approx. 1/2 of the fees go to the owner of the MRI scanner and building and 1/2 of the fees go to the radiologist and technicians (who actually take the pictures).

I'm just glad we have the option to get this level of detail, if we choose to. However, there is a cost for high tech and highly specialized.

Glad to hear you were diagnosed early rather than hearing about a more devastating problem later on because of walking around on an undiagnosed stress fracture.

Happy Healing! :p

I haven't the slightest idea. I just wanted to wish you the best of luck. Hope you feel better soon.

Juan

AGREED!

That sounds about right. I had one about 5 years ago for a fracture of the greater tuberosity (I read my own chart... :D) I think my bill was over $1,200.