Cheaper life-saving scans set to benefit more patients at St George Hospital
MORE GALLERIES
Patients who need life-saving scans at St George Hospital will save hundreds of dollars in medical diagnosis testing.
From March 1 this year, MRI services will be bulk-billed to all hospital patients in the region.
The hospital has received a Medicare-eligible licence. Outpatients will be able to benefit from the federal government’s funding boost to make the scans more affordable.
An MRI machine, which gives a detailed view of the soft tissues of the body such as muscles, ligaments, brain tissue, discs and blood vessels, is used to diagnose and monitor medical conditions including trauma, cancer, stroke and heart problems.
Health minister Greg Hunt says the move will keep the cost of healthcare down for families.
“We are delivering at least 30 new MRI licences around the country,” he said. “This is an amazing hospital and this MRI is the Ferrari of the MRI world.
“It’s about giving patients better access to improve lives and outcomes.
“Our plan for a strong economy means we continue to deliver record funding for essential services such as Medicare, public hospitals and life-saving medicines.
“Not only will our new Medicare support ensure patients get better treatment and save money, it will also cut down the amount of time patients travel to get a scan.
“Under the liberal national government, Medicare spending is guaranteed and increasing every year from $24 billion in 2017–18 to $28.8 billion in 2021–22 to support health care for every Australian.
“We have also committed to reduce the cost for patients by indexing targeted diagnostic imaging services including mammography, fluoroscopy, CT scans and interventional procedures.”
Mr Hunt praised Banks MP David Coleman for being a passionate advocate for St George patients. Mr Coleman says this latest health announcement is fantastic news for the area.
“The implementation of a permanent Medicare eligible MRI service will help close the gap in current and growing health care needs and importantly enable patient’s affordable access to these critical services,” he said.
St George Hospital director of medical imaging, Derek Glenn, says the licence will extend the hours of the MRI’s operation.
“This is a problem-solving instrument and we need to run it for longer to extract the best bang for buck,” he said.
“When we have a full licence, it will allow us to have the revenue base to have longer hours and serve outpatients rather than just having the instrument completely devoted to in-patients services.
“This is the only public magnet for about 650,000 taxpayers in this district. As a public hospital we have a very busy emergency department – up to 60,000 patients a year. A lot of those are coming through to diagnostics. So this will get them through the system in a timely way.”
Comments
Discuss "Photos | Cheaper life-saving scans set to benefit more patients"
Please note: All comments made or shown here are bound by the Online Discussion Terms & Conditions.