Patients benefit from private MRIs

The Saskatchewan government is hailing the success of it’s two-for-one MRI program.

Since February, 1,800 patients have benefited from the introduction of the private-pay strategy.

Any patient can head to a clinic and pay for an MRI, but the clinic has to provide a second scan for someone waiting on the public list.

With 943 scans performed privately, that is an $835,000 savings to the health system.

“That means that over 1,800 MRI’s that have been done or are in the process of being done at no cost to the taxpayer, so that frees up precious resources in healthcare for other areas,” Health Minister Jim Reiter argued.

“This is just a good example of people that have paid for an MRI, each person has paid for someone in the public system.”

The government has also moved to expand this strategy for CT scans as well.

Reiter also confirmed the government is considering expanding the HPV vaccine currently provided to girls in grade 6 to boys.

He didn’t say when that decision would be announced.

HPV is linked to cervical cancer and tumours in the mouth and throat.