Knee Pain, MRI, and Orthopedic Eval - All Without ED Visit!!

Recently, we had an urgent call where someone was in considerable amount of knee pain and requested our help in getting the right medical treatment for this knee pain.

LiveActive Primary Care jumped into action. Within an hour of taking the call, after evaluation of the knee, an MRI seemed necessary to further evaluate this knee. Their insurance carrier wanted prior authorization, which would delay the whole process, so we were asked to look for cash pricing. One institution quoted the MRI as a little over $3,000, whereas our imaging partner offered the same MRI, got him with a same day appointment and a same day read at a price of $400! That is a huge savings and considerably more efficient. The MRI was completed within an hour.  A CD with uploaded MRI images was made and given to our client as they exited the imaging facility. In the meantime, we arranged an orthopedic consult within the next couple of hours. A report of the MRI was faxed to LiveActive Primary Care that same afternoon. Our client was seen by the orthopedist, the images were reviewed by the orthopedist, we had a copy of the MRI reports, and a complete evaluation with a treatment plan the same day!

The total cost for the client was $400 out of pocket! Compare that to what would have happened in the traditional model:

The client would most likely go the ER and have to fill out a bunch of paperwork. After an hour or 2, maybe more, they would then proceed to the exam room where they are asked several questions, intravenous fluids would be started, pain medications would be given - even tylenol in the ER is much more expensive than what you can buy at the store, a host of labs would be done. After answering the nurse's questions, they would answer the same questions AGAIN with an actual doctor. ER staff may proceed with an X-ray first and then later decide the client needs a follow up MRI as an outpatient since the MRI scanner is booked up with other patients.  After another several hours, the client would leave with pain medications in hand, likely some combination of narcotics and tylenol to follow-up wth his primary care doctor. The total cost of this model, even suggesting that there was no MRI done in the ED would easily be thousands of dollars with insurance! More importantly, the case was simply evaluated on the surface only to delay the actual imaging that was needed with a high price tag; not to mention the amount of time that was wasted just waiting around for the evaluation to be done.

Even if the ED cost is covered with Health Insurance, Medicare or cost is not an issue, the efficiency is incredible when we take away insurance and remove all the considerable barriers in our health system, which only impedes quality and efficient care delivery.

That is the LiveActive experience! Our incentive is not to add services to make a profit; instead, our focus is on maximizing the patient experience with little to no cost for our members. Primary care should not be expensive and it most definitely should not be difficult to access.

This is only one of many stories that we live everyday. Come join the movement in revolutionizing how primary care is done and experience the difference with LiveActive Primary Care!