Connecticut Orthopaedic Specialists (COS), which merged with four other orthopedic physician group practices between 2014 and 2015 to give it 21 offices and 49 orthopedic doctors, is seeking state approval to purchase a mobile MRI to meet patient demand.
COS said its current 1.5 Tesla MRIs, one in its Hamden office and other in Branford, are used exclusively for its patients and have reached maximum capacity. It prefers using its own MRI services for speed of services and bundles its MRI fee in the total cost of treatment, according to a Certificate of Need application filed with the state Office of Health Care Access, which deemed the CON compete on May 19 and has scheduled a public hearing on the application July 11.
The mobile 1.5 Tesla MRI scanner will initially operate four days per week — two each in Essex and Orange — with one weekday to travel and will operate 12 hours per day and provide an estimated 1,664 scans per year at each location, the CON says. The mobile scanner could be operational within 90 days of approval.
