CHICAGO, March 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — A new program from
American Imaging Management (AIM) delivers valuable information to
physicians and consumers regarding the price of advanced diagnostic
imaging exams and the quality of the facilities where those exams
are performed, offering significant cost savings and increased
satisfaction.
As consumers assume greater responsibility for health care
spending, there is a growing need for information that offers a
clearer understanding of the options that exist for them. AIM, a
leading specialty benefit management company and operating
subsidiary of WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE:
WLP), is bringing this information to consumers through
OptiNet, the company’s member transparency
resource. The member-transparency component of
OptiNet is initially being used for advanced
diagnostic imaging procedures such as CT scans and MRIs that are
administered in an outpatient setting.
“Advanced diagnostic imaging exams are very expensive and often
patients and their physicians are not aware that price can vary
dramatically depending on where the exam is performed,” said
Brandon Cady, president and chief executive officer of AIM. “We
routinely see instances where different facilities located in the
same area – with the same type of equipment and the same type
of physicians reading the results – have prices that vary by
more than a thousand dollars.”
In order to promote more informed decision making by patients
and physicians, AIM launched the member transparency component of
OptiNet as a concierge-type program that
delivers pricing and capability information directly to health plan
members, using data submitted by health plans and the imaging
facilities themselves.
OptiNet operates in tandem with AIM’s
clinical appropriateness program. When a p
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