Magnetic resonance imaging scan: what you should know?
Specialists from the health insurance funds remind that Lithuanian residents insured by compulsory health insurance do not have to pay for MRI scans, special medical clothing, other disposable materials and copies of radiological images, as the costs are covered by the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund.
In all cases, people seeking a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan need a referral from a specialist. This referral can be made by a specialist, providing secondary and tertiary level outpatient healthcare services, which are covered by the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund (CHIF).
“There are often situations when medical institutions, even though they have concluded contracts with health insurance funds, insist on offering additional services that the patient may not even need. For example, copies of radiological images are offered for recording. It is therefore worth remembering that if copies of the images are needed, the referring doctor will state this in the referral. In addition, if special disposable clothes are needed for the examination, the healthcare facility will provide them. For all of this, medical institutions should not require additional payment from patients”, emphasizes Sonata Leščinskienė, Head of the Control Division of Klaipėda Territorial Health Insurance Fund (THIF).
According to a specialist, if the referring doctor decides that copies of radiological images are needed, they are provided to the referring doctor together with a description of the radiological examination. The patient does not have to pay for them. However, if the person wants copies of the images of the examination, he/she will have to pay for this service himself/herself.
Outpatients can receive treatment at a medical facility of their own choice. However, for the service to be reimbursed, it is important that the chosen medical facility has a contract with a territorial health insurance fund.
According to the data of the National Health Insurance Fund, more than 202,000 people were provided with MRI services in Lithuanian healthcare institutions last year, for which the CHIF paid almost EUR 27 million.
Information of Klaipėda Territorial Health Insurance Fund
(Freepik photo)
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