Of course if MRI’s and other imaging were priced APPROPRIATELY, it wouldn’t be such a big deal when something has a wholesale contract price of $300 but a ‘retail’ price of $3,500, it is market distortion to say the least. When I was done they patient would say, somewhat amazed, “How did you know that?” My answer, “That’s typical for muscular back pain.”Įducation helps as does drawing the patient into the decision-making process. Laying down lessens the pain, but it’s painful when getting up. I would say your pain is worse when first get up, gets better as the day goes on, and then increases in the evening. I also found it useful to use my “crystal ball” and predict the person’s symptoms before they told me. With this information, most patients decided they didn’t want the study. I also explained the primary reason to do imaging – to determine if the person needed surgery. Many realized they didn’t have the right symptoms and decided they didn’t want the imaging study. My approach to back pain patients requesting imaging studies I thought unnecessary was to explain the expected symptoms with a herniated disk. I am a retired FP and occupational medicine doc.
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