Navicent Health Case Study
The Medical Center, Navicent Health is a nationally recognized academic medical center, nationally verified Level 1 Trauma Center, Magnet® hospital for nursing, and serves 30 counties and a population of nearly 750,000. The Medical Center partners with Shared Imaging to provide a mobile MRI that conveniently serves patients at several affiliate sites.
PATIENTS SERVED THROUGHOUT SOUTH GEORGIA WITH MOBILE MRI
As healthcare decision making becomes more consumer-driven, large acute care hospitals, such as The Medical Center, Navicent Health located in central Georgia, are seeking ways to lower costs and bring care closer to home. To meet both of these needs, Navicent Health employs a mobile MRI solution from Shared Imaging.
After evaluating its current imaging strategy, Navicent Health briefly considered purchasing its own mobile medical coach and MRI and creating their own routes. “It didn’t take long before we realized that we didn’t want to be in the mobile MRI business,” said Eddie Coker, Director of Outpatient Imaging at Diagnostics, Navicent Health. “If the driver or the technologist calls in sick, that becomes your problem as opposed to the vendor’s problem if you have a turnkey solution.”
Navicent Health chose Shared Imaging to provide a turnkey mobile solution with a GE 1.5T MRI and parttime clinical staffing for its critical access hospitals, including Medical Center of Peach County, Navicent Health and Putnam General Hospital, Navicent Health Partner.
Mobile MRI Solutions
“One of the things we’ve been considering more often is leasing the equipment and operationalizing the costs, instead of purchasing the equipment outright,” said Coker. “If you structure the lease arrangement on a fair market value basis, then you essentially position yourself to change out that technology every five years.”
Eddie Coker, RT, CRA
Director of Outpatient Imaging at Diagnostics, Navicent Health
PROVIDING CARE MORE COST EFFECTIVELY AND CLOSER TO HOME
Soothing images of nature were placed on the interior walls and ceiling of the Navicent Health mobile MRI to enhance patient comfort.
The mobile MRI has allowed Navicent Health to bring those services close to patients’ homes as opposed to requiring them to go to the flagship hospital in Macon.
“From a patient perspective, it’s easier and better to get care close to home rather than drive for it,” said Coker. “So that was part of the strategy as well as providing efficient and cost effective services.”
From Navicent Health’s perspective, the Shared Imaging solution is more cost-effective compared to working with the legacy vendors.
“We quantify our total costs to include the supply cost and the labor cost so that we are certain we are maintaining a margin based on the cost-to-charge ratio,” said Coker. “We closely evaluate the cost of doing business as well as the income that we’re producing.”
Working with Shared Imaging allowed Navicent Health to more cost-effectively obtain the mobile MRI services as well as reserve its capital funds by operationalizing the costs.
“One of the things we’ve been considering more often is leasing the equipment and operationalizing the costs, instead of purchasing the equipment outright,” said Coker. “If you structure the lease arrangement on a fair market value basis, then you essentially position yourself to change out that technology every five years.”
CUSTOMIZATION GIVES ENHANCED PATIENT EXPERIENCE
In addition to being able to upgrade their imaging technology in a timelier manner, a Shared Imaging solution allowed Navicent Health to customize the exterior of the mobile MRI with vinyl wraps, install soothing images of nature on the interior walls and ceiling, and install a cloud-covered skylight.
“It’s basically a Navicent Health billboard in the community,” said Coker. “Shared Imaging was the only vendor we talked to that was willing to do that level of customization. Clearly, the aesthetically pleasing environment contributes to an enhanced patient experience.”
Customization of the exterior mobile MRI using vinyl wraps.