With investment from Colorado, Smart Choice MRI to expand beyond the Midwest

Smart Choice MRI, known for providing scans for $600 or less, has drawn its third investment from a health system and plans to expand to Colorado.

The company, which has 17 imaging clinics in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota, said Wednesday that UCHealth, a health system that includes University of Colorado Hospital in Denver, will invest in the company.

Edward-Elmhurst Health, a health system in the Chicago area, has invested $7 million, and ThedaCare, a health system in the Fox Valley, has invested $4 million in the company.

The size of UCHealth’s investment was not disclosed but is comparable to the $7 million investment by Edward-Elmhurst Health, said Rick Anderson, chief executive officer of Smart Choice MRI.

The company plans to open four imaging centers in the Denver area.

Smart Choice MRI, which employs about 189 people, has eight centers in the Chicago area and three in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

It plans to open a fourth center in the Twin Cities area by the end of the year.

The company, which was founded in Wisconsin and has offices in Mequon and Chicago, has six imaging centers in Wisconsin.

In all, it has opened 15 centers and raised $22 million from investors since Anderson became CEO in April 2014.

Magnetic resonance imaging at a Smart Choice MRI center can cost $1,000 less than at a hospital. Its flat fee of $600 or less includes the cost of having the scan read by a radiologist at Cleveland Clinic.

For example, an MRI of the cervical spine without dye costs an average of $968 in the Denver area, with the cost ranging from $627 to $1,291, according to the guroo.com website, which has prices for common episodes of care based on insurance claims.

“UCHealth is excited to invest in Smart Choice MRI because this company is focused on providing an excellent experience in a lower-cost setting,” Anthony DeFurio, UCHealth chief financial officer, said in a statement. “These goals match with UCHealth’s objectives.”

DeFurio contacted Smart Choice MRI after learning about the company, Anderson said.

“They are not fooling around in terms of finding new ways to deliver care,” Anderson said.

The company now has programs with 230 employers in which employees are given incentives, such as waiving their co-pay or cash, to get scans at Smart Choice MRI.

The savings can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for large employers, Anderson said.

“It doesn’t take much to make a big difference,” he said.