THE operators of a newly-installed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine at Dubbo are disappointed the federal government has knocked back a request to provide Medicare rebates for patients who use it.
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PRP Dubbo representatives invited Parkes MP Mark Coulton to their premises to inspect the new machine and to explain their concerns after their application for Medicare eligibility was rejected by the Department of Health.
Unless the federal government changed its mind, patients would pay about $250 out of their own pockets to have one body region scanned using the new Siemens Magnetom Aera 1.5T wide bore MRI, which was delivered last month.
Put simply, PRP chief operating officer Jonathan Page said, the machine was purchased after a particular window of time for which machines were eligible to attract Medicare rebates for patients.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said most recently MRI Medicare eligibility had been granted under the 2011-15 MRI Metropolitan and Regional Expansion and the ITA 309/112 - MRI Area of Need initiatives, and to be eligible, practices had to submit evidence of their MRI units being planned or operation prior to May 10, 2011.
"As a result of the most recent expansion processes, the number of Medicare-eligible MRI units has increased from 125 to 350 nationally," she said.
"Medicare-eligible MRI services are now widely available, and there is a broad distribution across Australia, including in rural areas such as Dubbo.
"With regard to this particular practice, MRI Medicare eligibility is typically granted under formal expansion processes. There are currently no processes open for practices to apply for MRI Medicare eligibility."
But Mr Page said there were compelling reasons why the federal government should reconsider its decision.
"Being granted Medicare eligibility would mean the bulk of the cost would be borne by the Medicare system, so that means greater accessibility, particularly for people who don't have the means to afford a scan themselves," he said.
"Even now if they're eligible they have to wait about three weeks in Dubbo."
Orana Radiology, the city's existing MRI provider, was contacted for comment regarding average wait times but did not return a call from the Daily Liberal.
Given the prevalence of obesity in western NSW, Mr Page said, there was an additional reason PRP's MRI service should be subsidised.
"This machine has a wide bore, meaning it can accommodate larger patients," he said.
"We have had a couple of people in who came here because they would not fit in a traditional machine - our record size here already is 180kg."
Mr Page said the fact Dubbo was a service centre for the state's west was another reason to make MRI services more accessible.
"Country folk tend to be more ill than city folk, and there is a high percentage of indigenous people, who generally have poorer health outcomes," he said.
"There is definitely a demand here, as Dubbo is the service centre for quite a large geographic catchment.
"In fact, this sort of device is particularly useful for cancer imaging. People with cancer have traditionally had to be taken out of Dubbo, away from their families, to access services.
"Having this infrastructure nearer to them can help them through a very difficult period in their lives."
Meanwhile, delivery and installation of the mighty machine had been no small feat, Mr Page said.
"It arrived on a very big truck and it's very heavy - it had to be lifted off with a crane," he said.
"We slid it in through a corridor that was constructed at a special width to accommodate it.
"Our doctors are very pleased with the image quality."